Singstar
by Mirror Of The Ocean
Summary: Kikumaru Eiji had as long as he could remember dreamed of creating a band that would take the world with storm, however when an opportunity to archive his dream appears Eiji starts to understand that being famous is not a dance on roses. Golden Pair
1. Prologue

**Fandom:** Prince of Tennis  
**Characters:** Oishi Shuichiro X Kikumaru Eiji  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own Prince of tennis or any of its characters, Takeshi Konomi does and I make no profit by writing this whatsoever. Neither Do I own the concept 'band of princes', sorry about that.  
**Rating:** K  
**Summary: **They had become enemies without even knowing the faces of the other bands members. You heard me right, bands.

**A/N: **Because I have always wanted to write a Golden Pair story á la Romeo and Juliet style, and I thought this was a good way to do it without it getting to cliché

Okay, I know I have been updating like crazy lately, but my summervaccation just began so bear with me. I am just being hyper.

Ooo TG, what am I going to do without you?

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It might have seemed like a normal day at the newly formed bands studio, however it wasn't. There was an uncomfortable tension in the air which no one wanted to acknowledge. Their bassist Kaidoh was sitting on the floor, his bass in his knees and letting his hands move across the smooth surface.

Taka was staring absently at his drumsticks, not daring to touch them in order to create a fuss, Momo was shuffling cookies into his mouth at a ridiculous speed, however he didn't even seem to taste the sweetness that passed his lips.

…and the band leader was sitting in the large sofa, eyes closed in concentration as he listened to a song on his ipod, tapping his feet to the rhythm of the music, nodding his head every now and then to a loud beat so that his read hair swayed forwards and backwards. Mumbling the familiar words softly into the otherwise silent room.

It might have looked like Caps to Bin had another temporary cease of inspiration, which were not entirely unusual for the band since there _did _exist funner things in life than trying to find the perfect tune. Sure they loved playing, but creating the song was an entirely different subject. The amount of patience that was needed was something the majority of the band members lacked.

That was the reason you easily could see that the band members were stressed, nervous and just plain uncomfortable. You could assume that the reason for the mood would be that the keyboardist was absent, and then you would be half right. It wasn't the fact that the black haired male was away that placed pressure on the members. It was the calculations they knew he was performing.

And then suddenly he was there, leaning in the door frame to the studio with a big grin plastered over his face; Inui Sadaharu. The reaction was frightening, people scramble to their feet, dashing to the newly arrived member, assembling in a half circle around him with the question _'Did we do it?' _writtenall over their faces. Inui pulled forward a familiar looking note book and opened it, grinning widely towards the crowd.

"8 votes…" he told them with four pair of eyes watching him closely. "We beat them with 8 votes"

Screams of pure joy echoed through the room, hugs where shared, high-fives made all while the members of Caps to Bin laughed and congratulated each other for finally being able to reach their goal and beat their rivals.

It had took them nearly half a year of blood, sweat and tears, but they had finally been able to compete against one of the most popular bands in Japan, and had won.

They had won over the overly famous Aozu.

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**A/N: **Oh my, the shortness. I am just looking at this as a prologue, I have been thinking about writing this story for awhile and since I just finished 'synchro' I figure that it would be now or never.

Worth continuing? Personally I think that there are way too few Romeo and Juliet GP fics out there but it might just be me.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Since well… I just had to write this at once… My… I make Eiji seem like such an attention whore in the beginning. Sorry about that.

And yes, Aozu will come in later, it's just that I want some background story to the entire thing and so on, and since this story mainly focuses on caps to bin (since they have the most interesting personalities (but on the other hand Aozu have my dearly beloved Oishi)). Aozu will probably make their first appearance in the next chap, or the chap after that. But they won't be getting any background story though. At least not very much.

TG, I heart you 3

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Kikumaru Eiji didn't know when he got interested in music, maybe it was to be expected. He had always been the one in his family to search for as much attention as possible. He had heard that it was, after all, a very usual pattern for children born in the middle. He had started out by being overly energetic, ticking his elder sisters and brothers off in the process. But he reached his goal. His mother had to pay attention to him, otherwise there was no way telling how the surroundings would look after he had dashed through.

He had started out with training gymnastics in school. There was just something plain amusing with seeing peoples face when he did a back flip or something among those lines. It was another way to get that attention he didn't quite feel he got at his home, the fact that he actually liked gymnastic too was just a plus.

Then when he had gotten older he had noticed that he was able to get the a lot of attention from his female classmates by acting a bit stupid, add cute sounds to his phrases and style his hair in a seemingly impossible ways. His fame expanded at a frightening pace and he was soon well known for his positive, energetic cuteness by the female students.

He had soon even succeeding in getting attention from the male students as well, however the glances that were directed at him was often mixed with jealousy instead of admiration. He didn't care, it was attention none the less.

One time on one of his many group dates they had gone to sing karaoke. There was a very indescribable feeling of content as he was allowed to sing into the microphone, change his tone, letting the rhythm take over as the music overloaded his senses, he was allowed to feel with the music, sing about his inner desires in a way he hadn't been able to do before.

To know that there were people sitting behind him, watching his back and listening to every sound he uttered filled him with a strange feeling and he quickly found out that he liked it, and when one of the girls in the group had encouraged him and said that he had a very special voice and really should use it more often, he was struck.

As soon as he came home he had loaned his older brothers guitar and started playing like crazy, it didn't sound very good, something the older brother he shared a room with, wasn't late to point out. But he didn't care as long as he had fun while his fingers played over the strings.

The next day he had joined the music club in school. They weren't that many really. A few third years and fourth years, including himself and a first year.

Momoshiro might have been the youngest in the music club, however he was far more than the least talented. In fact Eiji found out that the first year was far better than many of the third years with the guitar. Momo had a personality that went well with his, the other boy also had a pretty big family and was very often searching attention by talking way too loud, even for Eiji's taste, but they quickly found each other anyway, especially since Momo was willing to give Eiji private lessons how to play the guitar.

They boys started to spend time together more often, since they shared the same interest they had a lot to talk about, the chocolates new CD, or anything that crossed their minds. Dreams of the present and the future…wishes, hopes… the list could be made much longer.

It was in the middle of the summer before Eiji's third year the decision was made. As they lay in Eiji's garden, listening to the radio and singing the songs with their favourite artists, a broadcast was made, featuring the newly formed band Aozu who had taken Japan by storm and made it into the top ten with their first single.

It was then Eiji and Momo decided that they one day would do the same thing, they would create a band and they would be famous over one night.

However it would take a few more years before their dreams came true. Both of them had school to take care of and Eiji found himself graduating the year after, leaving Momo behind. Their contact slowly ceasing as they headed different paths, different schools. When Eiji finally graduated for the last time he started to work in a CD-store.

Everyday was filled with the newest music, banging through the speakers. He quickly learned the most popular artist's voices not to mention Aozu's, especially since said band was famous for appearing on the radio station the store he was working in frequently was listening to.

He knew that the strict, manly one belonged to Tezuka, the light one to Fuji and that smooth, soothing one belonged to a guy named Oishi. However he didn't know whom was who. Surely he had seen the covers to their albums when he unpacked CD's, but it was just faces, Eiji found out that voices were far more interesting.

It would be a lie to say that he did not admire them. The band that had appeared from nowhere with members that were just ordinary, everyday people with voices like gods. One day he wanted to be like them, to get all that attention himself.

He had worked for little more than a year before the announcement was made. Aozu had got another member and the entire music world was in uproar. What if the new one couldn't sing? Mess up the special feeling that always seemed to engulf the band?

However, when the new singles were released all protest stopped at once. The new one, Ryoma, captured the hearts of Japans females in a blink of an eye and Aozu's popularity sky-rocketed.

And it was then Eiji decide that it was now or never. He would aim for the top and either stay there or fall back down to the bottom.

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**A/N: **After I reread this I noticed that I somehow managed to write about a crack pairing. (EijiMomo if you didn't notice) it wasn't my will at all… Sorry, it just...kind of happened. Please keep in mind that they are just very good friends in this fic. Crack in all honour, but how on earth am I supposed to create a Romeo and Juliet scenario between Oishi and Eiji otherwhise?


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:**Chap 3 already, hell, time flows away when you have fun. Summer helps too :3

And also… AOZU I WELCOME YOU!! Even though it's only a very small appearance… but who cares really? We are still not up to the prologue (chapter 1) but I wanted to write it like this instead since I am aiming to make Oishi/Aozu some kind of goal for Eiji in order to resemble the manga where Eiji teamed up with Oishi in order to learn the others weaknesses and later on defeat him.

TG, I am so very deeply sorry for putting you through my brainstorm.

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If Eiji, at some point in his rather short life, had felt small and out of place it was nothing compared to the overwhelming feeling he felt in that moment, when he stood outside the company and tried to see the top of the building.

It had been so easy really, finding the number to the company and make the call, even though he had to admit that he had been a bit nervous about it all. The call had ended in five minutes, and it left him with the feeling that it was a mere routine for the receptionist. A few quick questions, a request to bring his identification and an instrument if he needed one, and then he had a meeting with someone in the company.

Eiji didn't fool himself into believing that it was someone of the higher ups he was supposed to meet but it was _something._

"_But really…"_ Eiji thought to himself as he quietly walked through the enormous lobby to the desk in the far end. _'It's rather hard to believe that _anyone _that works here isn't in a high position" _

It almost seemed like he was the only one in the lobby, walking over the floor of marble, his footsteps sending echoes through the entire room. It made him feel even smaller and he swallowed hard. The desk that was his goal still seemed so unbelievably far away and he couldn't help but feel that he never would reach the end of the room, however he did.

Arriving to the desk he smiled warmly, even though he was so nervous that his legs threatened to give in on him any second. The girl on the other side of desk studied him with large black eyes, like she was waiting for something and suddenly the pieces fell back into place. He offered a weak smile before he gave the girl his name and she nodded slowly as she checked something on the screen.

"I'll tell Sakurai-san that you have arrived" came her soft voice as she reached out for a phone beside her on the desk. "Please take a seat while waiting" she said and motioned to a couple of couches which were placed a few meters from his current position. He nodded slowly before he walked away on unsteady legs to the place assigned to him.

It was a relief to sink down into the soft furniture and just relax. Sure, he was still tense, and his heartbeats were loud in his ears but he was sitting down, and he had time to calm down and get used to the luxurious environment. He heaved a sigh and leaned back in the sofa, taking in everything.

The high roof, the clean floor, the expensive looking statues, paintings and gods knew what, and he slowly but surely started to calm down. This was what he had decided on after all, and even thought it felt like his heart would jump out from his chest any moment he knew deep down that if he only were able to get through with this, his dream would come true. Or at least he would be one step closer to achieving it.

He slowly but surely became aware of the presence of the other people in the room. They were standing in groups over here and there through the lobby, people he hadn't even noticed existing before, and it was then it had happened. Just when Eiji had understood that there actually existed other people around him and his ears finally had picked up the murmur in the room all the voices suddenly became silent.

Or did they really? It was more like that the amount of whispers had increased.

The curious side of his personality quickly took over and Eiji turned his head, one arm resting on the armrest while his eyes scanned the surroundings for the source of the change of atmosphere.

It was then he saw them for the first time.

Aozu.

Walking through the lobby like nothing had changed was the famous band with the older members in the front, while the newest, Ryoma, Eiji recalled was his name, walked a few metres behind, his cap pulled down to cover his eyes as the boy lazily took a sip from a bottle of lemonade every now and then.

Tezuka, the undoubted leader (even though fans _had _speculated about the newcomer's rightful status) was taking the lead, showing his band mates through the rather crowded lobby. The other two, Fuji and Oishi were cheerfully talking with each other, nodding, chuckling and even making a few gestures every now and then to make something even clearer for the other.

Neither one of the members seemed to be very bothered by the sudden change of atmosphere when they entered. _'Maybe…' _Eiji thought to himself. _'…maybe they were just used to it' _and a sudden string of jealousy hit him. He wanted to be there, wanted to be like them, wanted that attention. Wanted to be popular, to be liked, recognized.

The groups black haired male nodded once again before quickly sweeping his eyes around the surroundings, and for the briefest of moments entrancing green eyes meet his own, widening the slightest because of the resolve that was lurking behind his own eyes that Eiji didn't care to hide.

Why should he anyway? He was here in order to reach for the top; he was there to be able to compete against them, so why should he bow his head in silence as everyone else in the room seemed to do?

Out of respect?

It would be an utter lie to say that Eiji did not respect them, however his respect was different compared to the rest of the crowd. While they respected them out of fear Eiji respected them out of admiration and rivalry.

Because one day he would hunt them down, in one way or another. He wanted to be like them, to walk through the lobby like he owned it, only give the receptionist a mere glance, or just a short nod before continuing deeper into the building. He didn't want to sit down in a couch, waiting until someone felt like dealing with him. He wanted… he wanted…

"Kikumaru Eiji?" a deep voice spoke behind him and he left his glance of Aozu's retreating backs to look at the person in front of him. Before him stood a man in his middle age, wearing a rather expensive suit and a pair of glasses, which he pushed up his nose just when Eiji laid his eyes on him. His hair was a light blonde colour and with a bang on the right side of his face, carefully styled in a way so it wouldn't fall into his eyes even though it reached almost all the way to his nose. He smiled gently and Eiji stood up and offered a polite bow before answering.

"Sakurai-san?" He asked, even though it wasn't really needed as he grabbed the others offered hand and shook it. Somehow he felt much calmer than just a few minutes ago, more focused, he had his eyes fixed on a goal only he could see, his blue orbs almost burning with determination. This was what he had come for, and he wouldn't allow himself to screw it up.

He noticed that Sakurai-san was eyeing him from top to toe. His choice of clothes, his body, his face and overall appearance and Eiji only stood there, waiting for his sentence before the man gave a small nod in approval before leading the way deeper into the building.

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**A/N: **Come on Eiji, we all know that you can do it!! That aside isn't Sakurai such a sweet character? (Totally thought about America from Hetalia when I wrote his appearance… sadly their personalities won't match. –sighs-)

Sooo…. First GP moment….That ought to be the shortest GP moment I have written in my entire life (if it even can be counted as one) and well… well… AOZU!! Finally, I have been dying to write about their entrance for the longest time, and well, here it is!


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **No Aozu in this chap, I promise I'll make it up to you in the next one, for seriously, I am just as depressed as you are about it. I demand more screen time for Oishi-mama! (comes from the one that is _writing _this fic.)

TG claimed

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Sakurai-san's office was…huge.

That was the only word Eiji could use to describe the room that was just as large as his family's living room. Posters of famous bands were hanging from the walls together with expensive looking paintings, and Eiji felt his resolve falter the slightest before sitting down on the chair in front of Sakurai-san. The older man folded his hands and looked closely at him, before bombarding him with questions.

"_How old was he? Did h__is parents support his decision? How much was he willing to offer for a future carrier? Had he been in a relationship? Did he have a dark past that could threaten his reputation if it got leaked? Did he…?"_

And so it continued, questions he never even thought were possible appeared, but he answered them none the less, the image of Aozu's retreating backs fresh in his mind. _'Someday…' _he thought while answering another of Sakurai's question. _'…someday I'll catch up to you, just wait.' _

He had also been asked to sing a bit, which he happily had obliged. He started out slowly, a bit nervous at first, but he figured that everyone would be, and Sakurai-san seemed to be of the patient kind and waited until his voice was his usual self, waited until Eiji even forgot that he wasn't alone, waited until the redhead got lost in the rhythm of his own singing and letting his feelings take over and paint the words he sung.

There was something about the way his head moved when he sang, gesturing with his hands and moving his body every so slightly in ways others didn't dare before him, in front of the manager in fear of making a fool out of themselves, that made the older understand that this boy was special.

Sakurai wouldn't say that Kikumaru Eiji wasn't fearless, but the boy dared to try out new things which were quite obvious since the redhead often played with a tune and grinned to himself when he suddenly, in the middle of it all changed the tone completely and the result turned out good. It turned out bad sometimes too, but the redhead dared to experiment there, right on the spot and it made the manager believe in the redhead even more.

Eiji was energetic, positive and the most important thing of all was that the boy loved to sing. There was this very attractive aura around the boy that seemed to draw him in and he knew that the redhead probably would succeed in drawing others in as well.

However, it was just… just that something deep down; call it intuition or whatever you like, told him that Kikumaru wasn't quite cut out to be a solo artist. His voice was very special, a good treat indeed, but it would also make things harder for the boy if he went on a solo carrier. He didn't wish for the redhead to give up becoming a singer, since he saw a lot of potential in the boy, but he didn't want to make another star that would disappear after just a few months, and therefore he was going to make a gamble.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"Kikumaru, I am going to be straight with you and I do hope that you don't mind." The redhead shook his head once and locked eyes with the older man, clearly showing the burning determination that resting there.

"I do have to say that I am very fond of your answers and your singing as well, however I can not support a solo carrier," another nod, he could see that resolve faltering the slightest, see how the redhead's hands were gripping the chairs until the knuckles became white.

With a sigh he stood up.

"Do you know Aozu?" another nod. It was a stupid question really, in this era it was almost impossible to not have heard about the band, especially not if you worked in a CD store as the redhead did.

"Our company has actually thought about starting up a band too, with a more…" he choose his words carefully. "…immature image to counter Aozu's more mature one." Sharp eyes inspected the redhead in order to catch any movement the redhead did, something, anything to show what Kikumaru thought on the matter. When none came he sighed again and turned to the bookcase a few feet away, pretending to inspect the volumes there.

"Sadly we do no have any members for the moment, we _could _place you on a waiting list until we find others but truth to be told I have no idea how long it might take…"

"…and the other choice is?" Sakurai grinned to himself; this boy was sharp and rather quick to catch on onto something.

"…or you could find the other band members yourself. It would be quicker and you would be able to find persons you are able to work well with." A silence fell over the room as the redhead thought over the offer.

"May I… have some time to think about it?" Eiji asked. He didn't know if he really wanted to be in a band, to play with other people, share the fame. But on the other hand… if it was what it took to grant him his dream maybe… just maybe…

"Of course," a business card was pushed into his hands. "Let me know when you have made up your mind." A pause. "Are you able to find the exit yourself?"

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A/N: something tells me that I have way to much spare time.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **The return of a very beloved character. (Guess who~) the other members of Caps to bin also start to make their appearances now.

Chap 5 and finally something seems to happen… just kidding. But since the previous chapters have been so short I finally present to you something long. Enjoy, this thing is like 3, 000 words (the previous chapters have been like a third of this…) and took like forever to write…

TG, I forgot to mention you before, sorry.

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Sometimes Eiji blamed his own stupidity. Like now when he was aimlessly wandering around the large company, obviously lost. He should have paid more attention when he walked to Sakurai-san's office, but seriously, he had had more important things in his head then, and now he was paying the price.

Not only because he hadn't taken a closer look to where they were heading before, but also because he once again had just nodded without really knowing what he had agreed on, and here he was… in the company… somewhere he didn't know himself, trying to find a way out, and he had also just learned that the emergency exit was alarmed.

Not the hard way though, he had just believed that if he only followed the emergency exit signs he would arrive at a door, which he in fact had done. That the door was labelled with the word _'alarmed' _was another thing and he once again needed to restart his search for a way out.

It didn't really go any better the second time he tried, and he decided that he had probably succeeded in ending up even deeper into the building then he had been before. He would have asked about the way, he really would, but the problem was that there wasn't a living soul in sight, just endless empty corridors with locked doors on the sides.

The atmosphere was crushing him, a deep silence that made him whimper at his own footstep that echoed dangerously loud into the hallway. Everything looked the same. Nothing changed more than that his pace became quicker as he almost started to run through the corridors in pure desperation.

…and then suddenly, the sound of an instrument echoed through the corridor and he followed it eagerly, trying to locate where it came from. The closer he came the more joyful he felt, there were people here, which meant that he would be able to meet a living person, would be able to ask for directions and leave this place. It didn't matter that the sound he heard wasn't even a complete melody, just a few tones, a pause then more tones and then after anther pause the previous tones repeated itself again with a slight variation Eiji couldn't put his fingers on.

In the end of one of the many corridors Eiji found the source of the music, a door which wasn't completely closed and he quickened his pace even more, sticking his head into the door frame before the rooms occupants would have any chance of notice that the door in fact was open and close it before Eiji successfully had managed to infiltrate the room. Curious blue eyes scanned the room in question, which were filled with all possible kinds of instruments, and in the middle of it all two people were sitting cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by a rather large collection of papers.

"Hmm… why not try to lower the cord in this part to F instead?" A dark haired male asked, pushing up his glasses before quickly scribbling something down on one of the uncountable papers around them.

"Fsss…" and then the melody hesitantly was repeated once more by the two males, one of them hammering away on a keyboard that was placed on his knees while the other more hesitantly nudged the cords of a bass.

"Like this senpai?" The other asked afterwards, tiredly correcting a bandana that seemed to have fallen down a bit to far over the males forehead before discretely hiding a yawn with the back of his hand. There was a clock on the wall and it told Eiji that it was far past seven in the evening, which meant that he had been lost for quite a while, but also that these two were very devoted to what they did. Or just very, very slow, or they were perfectionists. Same thing really.

"Yes," the keyboardist spoke before adding a slight nod like confirming something for himself. "This certainly sounds better", grabbing a pen the one with the glasses quickly wrote something down on a paper while the other heaved a yawn and let his eyes wander around the room… until they got locked with Eiji's own.

"Senpai…"

"Hnn? What is it Kaidoh?" asked the one that seemed to be the oldest out of the two of them, before following his partners gaze until it landed on Eiji, only to travel to the open door and back at the redhead again, studying him closely. "Can I help you with something?" he asked politely, voice slightly annoyed as he once again pushed up his glasses on his nose while the one named Kaidoh turned away and started to look through a few of the papers in front of him.

Hesitantly Eiji stepped into the room and after a quick reasoning with himself he closed the door behind him.

"Anoo…" he began shyly. He didn't really want to admit that he was lost, but at the same time he wanted, none the less, to be able to find the way out. However he didn't wish to leave a bad impression, not after he had been kind of turned down by Sakurai-san as a solo artist. So, naturally he went with the first thought that popped up into his mind.

"What are you doing?" he wanted to hit himself mentally as the one who wore a bandana hissed dangerously. "I didn't mean it nya!" he defended himself, his hands shooting out and waving in front of his face without really knowing what he was apologizing for. "…nya, I mean…I… well…I just…" the atmosphere was tense, and he didn't like it in the slightest, especially since he knew that he, sooner or later, would have to ask something rather embarrassing to the two males on the floor.

"We're making a melody," came the very composed reply and a faint ruffled could be heard as the male ruffled around with a bunch of a papers. Obviously they were both quickly losing their interest in him, which didn't make the entire situation better. There had to be some way to remove that tension someway too…

"I see that, it's just… just…" he didn't know what to say, didn't know what he could do to change the mood in the room to something better, and in the end he just decided to go with whatever coherent thought his brain could provide him with. "I am working at a CD store you see" he started out, studying their reactions. "…but I have never really seen your faces on any of the covers nya, so I just…just…" his arms fell down his sides, head bowed as that dangerous hiss was heard once more and he felt, if possible, even more like an outsider than when he had walked through the lobby earlier today.

"We make the soundtrack, someone else sings the lyrics and gets the credit. That's the way this branch works." Eiji lifted his head, fixing his gaze on the both of them. It was something with that comment made him annoyed, and the frustration that had built up inside him due to the tense atmosphere didn't make it any better.

"Why is that?" he didn't even care about that treacherous hiss anymore. "If I were to create something I want the credits for it myself, I could never stand being the one behind the scenes," a slight pout, blue eyes gleaming with determination as he lifted his arms and gestured as the others suddenly seemed to regain their lost interest in this completely stranger.

"Isn't that what showbiz is all about? Attention, recognition?" he didn't know anymore if he was scolding them or desperately trying to cling onto that last solid proof of his dream, and whatever the answer was he didn't care anymore. He was too caught up in thoughts he didn't even know he owned.

"Isn't that why you're working so hard? Working in order to get others to appreciate your work?"

"Isn't that…" he stared at them, eyes flashing before he uttered words he never would be able to take back. His mouth moved before his brain registered the thought.

"… I mean why are you even here if you were planning on walking in others shadows the entire time anyway?"

Silence

A crushing silence during which Eiji's brain finally caught up with his mouth and his eyes widened in fear. A hiss, more dangerously than before and before he knew it he had dashed out from the room and was presently rushing through the corridor at a ridiculous speed, embarrassment burning heavily on his cheeks as he rounded a corner way to quickly, quickening his pace even more, and without thinking about it easily rivalling the speed of a sprinter as the frustration and self-critic took over and he mentally scolded himself, tears burning behind his eyes as felt more humiliated than before in his entire life.

He had failed to fulfil his dream, had succeeded in getting lost _and_ been unable to find the exit in the company he had wanted to work in. He had also said those harsh words to people he had never met before, and he highly doubted that if there ever had existed the slightest possibility for him to enter the world of showbiz, it would probably be gone in a few hours when the two background artists had mentioned him to the higher ups.

He had, after all been supposed to go straight to the exit, he was not supposed to linger around in the building and definitely not insulting the workers at the company. There was no chance a company this large would ever hire someone that even couldn't find the exit.

'_Smooth Eiji,' _he thought to himself. _'So very, very smooth.'_

The doors were flashing past him at a dangerous rate, his vision becoming dizzier every moment and he rounded another corner, almost crashing into a girl who were carrying a bunch of papers, but somehow he managed to jump away in the last moments, continuing his run of madness, no longer knowing if he had taken right or left at the previous turn. If he had been in this or that corridor before and he bit his lips while as scolded himself.

'_What good did he think would come out of this?'_ he knew deep down that he would just end up getting more lost than what he already was, but somehow it was so easy to make his body work, to try to fool his brain into stop thinking. Thinking about his dream, about this company, about… about…

_BANG_

Like it weren't enough already...

Just like it weren't freaking enough already he found himself crashing right into a broad form, making the other person take a few steps backwards before the other managed to revive his lost balance and he felt his head bury itself deeply into an unfamiliar chest because of the impact and he let out a faint whine in the process.

Like he hadn't succeeded in making himself look like a complete fool already.

His dream, the background artists, and now he had also successfully managed scare the life out of an innocent girl who just had happened to pass by, and finally, like the cherry on the cake he had rudely crashed into a complete stranger, (like the others weren't unknown enough) almost knocking them both over in the process.

Silently Eiji wondered if anything else could possibly go wrong that day.

Truth to be told he highly doubted it.

"A-are you okay?" a voice, shocked, but oh so very gentle spoke to him. He didn't want to look up, didn't want to see the face of the person, didn't want…

He just wanted… just needed… needed time in order to calm down, time in order to collect his thoughts.

Time to fight off those annoying tears that threatened to overflow any second now, because everything had just gone so _completely _wrong_. _And since nothing really mattered anymore, since he couldn't become more humiliated than he already was, he threw the last pride he had left and lifted his hands to clutch the fabric of the other persons top tightly, burying his head even deeper into the other person torso and shook his head no.

If the other person was surprised or shocked he didn't do a good job with showing it, so he shook his head once more, just to be on the safe side.

Eiji weren't okay, not at all.

His dream had been crushed and he had, on top of it all succeeded in making a completely fool of himself in every way possible. As he felt the tears starting to form in the corner of his eyes he bit his lower lip in a last desperate attempt to fight it all off.

Eiji had always been the type to search for affection and touches by his family or close friends, but there had always been a line, a line he obviously didn't care if he crossed anymore, he had already sunken this low, so seriously, it wouldn't really matter if he sunk even lower.

He inhaled deeply, closing his eyes as he breathed, trying to occupy his mind with the pace of his breathing.

It didn't work very well.

Everything was over, he, who had been so confident in that he would make it to the top had lost.

He who even had in some strange way dared to glare back at Aozu, believing that he was something, that he would be able to compete against _them._

He had foolishly believed that he was talented, that nothing could go wrong.

'_How could it really?' _he asked himself. _'How could he believe it would go wrong when it had been so easy?'_

So easy to make the call, to get an appointment. He probably hadn't thought longer than that, believing that he was a part of this company as soon as he had sunken down into those soft cushions back in the lobby.

'…_how wrong I was,' _he thought. He knew that there was many others that had had the same dream before him, the majority of them failing like he had done. Who was he to talk back to those artists earlier? The ones that only created songs to others? At least they were a part of the company, at least they could hear their melodies play on the radio or maybe even at a CD-store. That was probably better than not being a part of the showbiz at all, being one in the masses, being one like himself.

He yelped and rasped his nails against the fabric, biting his lower lip until it almost started bleeding.

…and the other person… just stood there, letting him have some kind of strangely twisted privacy in a not very private moment… Not pushing him away in disgust, not touching him in a way the other might see fit in order to try to calm him down. Trusting him to being able to take care of himself.

Neither was he talking, wasn't trying to show pity on a matter he didn't understand. He just let Eiji handle it himself, and even if the redhead didn't know if it was out of empathy or something among those lines, he truly didn't care anymore, he was far past the point of caring about such a trivial thing such as pride.

And he figured, that he still, somehow was strong. People had cried for less, starting with when they got turned down in some random office with a random manager who just coldly told them that they simply weren't cut out for the job.

He hadn't given in there, and he certainly wouldn't cave in here; he was strong, he could take it. If he then cried to his hearts content until the next morning when he finally came home was an entirely different matter.

He would walk out from here with his head held high.

In the end the moment only lasted in a few seconds, half a minute at most, but the amount of thoughts which succeeded in rushing through Eiji's head in that short amount of time was surprisingly many.

It wasn't before he had finally let go of his metal grip on the others shirt and taken a step backwards, wasn't before a strange feeling of satisfication had surged through him because he had been able to stop the tears in time, before they started to pour down his cheeks.

It wasn't before then the other spoke for the second time, voice just as kind as before, simply repeating himself.

"Are you okay?" and this time Eiji found himself nodding.

Somehow he felt strangely mellow, and so very tired. His glance was glued to the floor, still unable to look the other in the face. He just wanted to go home, eat something sweet and crawl down into his bed and forget that this day ever had existed.

"Where…" he mumbled ashamed, as the width of his actions starting to kick in. "…where is the exit?" he looked up, green worried eyes meeting his own only to widen in recognition and so did his, before a kind smile formed at the corner of the others lip.

"This way," he green eyed male told him and took a few steps forward, throwing a glance over his shoulder to look if he was coming or not. Eiji's mind had for the moment stopped working all together, and his body moved on pure instinct as it quietly followed the other.

There was no way that Eiji wasn't able to recognize the male in front of him, that wicked hairstyle, probably only worn by one single person in the entire country.

Oishi Shuichirou

One of the members in Aozu.

The person he had glared on before.

The very same person that actually was showing him the way out, _without_ asking any him questions about his behaviour earlier. He figured that the other probably didn't care, he was probably just one of many people who ended up lost in the labyrinth that was the company every year, and Eiji felt, right there as he was walking behind the raven haired male, that things in fact could become worse compared to before.

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**A/N: **If I were to name my chapters this would probably be named Eiji's bad day or something among those lines, because duh, this dude have such a bad luck in this chap. Sorry about that I just didn't want everything to go according to Eiji's plans, and in the end, nothing really did.

Oh the GP love! It's just like Oishi to be able to calm Eiji down without knowing him. (Or so she tells herself)

That aside I do have to think out a name for this company, and if none offers anything better I'll just go with Seigaku since my naming sense in fact is that bad.

Also, I checked. 20-30 people are reading this story and one is reviewing? Come on guys!


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **No, I am not trying to ship EijiMomo over here, it's just that…. Just that… oh nevermind.

And since no one felt like helping my out the company's name is from this point onward Seigaku, thank you very much. Also, dudes, you're slacking with those reviews!

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"EEH?! Really Eiji-senpai?!" Violet eyes glaring at him in disbelief, an amused smile playing at the corners his lips, eyes finally leaving the television in front of them there they were sitting on the younger males bed. "What were their names?"

Cursing himself Eiji wondered what kind of stupidity that had made him call his old friend and ask if the other male had some spare time. Well, Momo _did _have that kind of personality that made him forget about unpleasant things, but why he had told the loud boy about his adventure a few days ago was completely beyond him.

Maybe he just wanted some back up from his old music friend, wanted someone to tell him that he was in fact talented, that it wasn't over… that there existed more company's then Seigaku out there. However, Eiji seemed to have forgotten that Momo tended to focus on other things than try to cheer him up, especially when he just had told him such a scoop.

"Mouu… I just don't know, Kadioh or something" Eiji sighed, trying to concentrate on the movie that was playing, which was kind of hard since the plotline just became weirder and more far fetched with every second that passed.

A brief silence while Momo for once seemed to be in deep thought.

"Never heard of them."

"Neither have I! And I told them so… but nyaaaa…" he sulked, burying his head into the bed sheets. He was still embarrassed about it all, and truth to be told he hadn't even told Momo even a third of the truth, and he certainly didn't plan to do so either. It was more than enough that the younger one did know that the manager, whatever his name was, didn't think he was cut out to be a solo artist, and that he knew about that he became lost and ran into the background artists. And scolded them, mind you.

There was no reason for Momo to know more than that. Truth to be told there was really no reason for Momo to know what he just had told him either, but…but…

Well, Eiji figured that he _could _tell his kohai that he almost ran into a girl, but telling him who he actually ran into… no it was better for the other to remain clueless. Some things, the redhead figured, were better left unsaid.

"…and then you ran away?" a nod. "But how on earth did you manage to find the exit Eiji-senpai?" curious eyes looking at his own, and Eiji couldn't help but mentally hit himself.

_Dammit, _he hadn't even pondered about how to explain that tiny little detail.

"I don't know nya… I was just running around…._aimlessly_ I tell you! And... and then it just kind of appeared in front of me, just like that!" he held out his arms, lifting his head from the pillow and looking at his friend as the other chuckled. Somehow it seemed like Momo, thick headed as he was bought it, or he understood that Eiji just didn't want to talk about it. But truth to be told the redhead highly doubted the last option.

It wasn't before then Eiji had understood how much he had missed his loud kohai. It was so easy to have a descent conversation, they were allowed to laugh at each others mess-ups like back in school, and even though it had been over a year since Eiji last had spoken to Momo it felt like they just were simply hanging out after school together. There wasn't any tension, just… a friendship that never really ended, even if Eiji had found out that he had believed that at first.

And then, in the middle of it all, his cell phone rang. Cursing under his breath he left the bed and started to rummage through the floor where he knew it hid itself. His belongings always had a naughty habit of joining all Momo's stuff on the floor. He quickly found it beside the DvD player, since he _had_ placed it there when he had changed the movie a hour or so ago. Slightly irritated he flipped it open and pressed it to his ear.

"Hoi hoi?"

"Ah, Kikumaru-kun?"

"S-Sakurai-san?" blue eyes widening in surprise and he turned to his look at his friend who was curiously eying him from the bed. With a sigh Eiji pressed the pause button and sat down cross-legged on the floor. "What can I do for you?" Eiji didn't know if Sakurai had missed his question, or if he just choose to ignore it as the by now familiar voice spoke again.

"I hear that you created quite the ruckus here a few days ago…" Eiji winched inwardly, he should have known that this entire affair wouldn't end that easily. Almost killing a girl was one thing, offending workers another. But to assault one of the members of Aozu was probably combined with death penalty in Seigaku's agenda, or anything among those lines.

"Ah, sorry about that nya… I got a little lost and well…" he desperately tried to laugh of the entire matter, but his voice sounded high pitched and false to him, and it seemed to be pretty obvious for everyone that listened as well, especially since Momo cocked up one if his eyebrows in question.

"Don't mind, don't mind. You're not the first and probably neither the last to achieve that." came the happy-go-lucky answer before Sakurai's voice suddenly turned unpleasantly stern.

"…this is about… a more trivial matter. Would it be possible for you to drop by anytime soon?" Eiji winced, he should have known, really. Everything would be trivial when it came to the company's money goat.

"How soon?" he asked, fiddling with the hem of his shirt as he spoke, biting his lower lip and avoiding Momo's asking glance.

"Well, I thought something among the lines of a couple of hours or so……."

Eiji never thought he had been so tempted to jump off a bridge before as in that very moment.

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A whistle.

"Woaaah!! This place sure is something, right Eiji-senpai?"

How Momo had talked him into to tagging along to the company was beyond Eiji's imagination. Well, maybe he had needed it, some kind of mental support from his old friend, or he had just been too caught up in his own thoughts to really know what he had agreed on. He guessed on the second option. Especially since Momo seemed more interested with the surroundings than the mood of his senpai.

But it was somehow easier to walk through the lobby when Momo was there at his side, pointing out all the small details he had missed the previous time, really he had been too nervous to really notice anything at all, or had been too occupied with leaving the company as quick as possible without getting any unwanted attention.

Momo had no reason to be nervous, it wasn't he who had a very depressing meeting in front of him, it wasn't he who would have to pay for that brief moment of stupidity that had only lasted half a minute. For his kohai this was just some rare opportunity to have some sightseeing of one of the most luxurious places in Japan.

When they came closer to the, by now, familiar counter Eiji caught something in the corner of his eyes, looking that way he saw Sakurai-san, just by the elevators beside the desk, waving to him to come over.

So he did, walked forward and slowly shook the mans offered hand.

"Sakurai-san" it surprised himself how very calm his voice was, even though he was screaming on the inside, the only thing he really wanted to do for the moment was to turn around and run away.

"Kikumaru-kun" they exchanged glances before Momo let out another impressed whistle.

"Woah, Eiji-senpai sure is popular!" and Sakurai start to chuckle slightly, which only served to make Eiji feel even more uncomfortable than he already was. He saw the questing look Sakurai gave him before the question came.

"Ah, I bought a friend, I hope it doesn't create any trouble…" his statement only earned him another chuckle from the older males side.

"Don't mind, don't mind!"

Oh, if Momo only knew the cost of that popularity.

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"What… what is this?" Eiji couldn't help but ask after having eyed the bunch of papers Sakurai had handed him. He was back in the other males office, sitting in front of that enormous desk. The only difference was that Momo was sitting on the spare chair beside him, trying to catch a few glances of the papers he currently was looking through.

"Just a copy of the artist policy at this company, thought you wanted to read through it" There had to be some way out of this, even if it meant kneeling on his knee's before Aozu, begging for forgiveness. Eiji heaved a sigh before placing the smaller book on the desk.

"Look, Sakurai-san I am deeply sorry for…"

"Don't mind, don't mind" the blonde male waved a hand in front of him, cutting of the acrobat in the process. "I don't know how you succeeded with it but you snagged two of Nogami's best musician's right under his nose. Really, you should have seen his face when they turned in the transfer papers, it really was something extraordinary."

"N-Nogami?" Eiji looked curiously at Sakurai, he had no idea why the other male told him this, but if it could serve as some kind of distraction he sure as hell wasn't going to complain.

"Hmm? Oh, it's a co-worker, or rival depending on how you see it. Another section of this company though." A nod towards the bunch of papers. "You really should read through it before signing something though, don't want you to break any rules now will we?"

"Huh?"

"Hmm? Didn't I tell you? You're a band leader now. Well, not official since…" whatever Sakurai-san had thought about saying was quickly interrupted.

"WHAT?!" two mouths screamed in perfect synch as two pair of eyes, one violet and one blue, was nailed on the manager.

"Eiji-senpai! You didn't tell me about this, it isn't fair to lie, not at all!" his kohai was pulling at the sleeve of his top, but he quickly silenced the other by giving him a glance through fierce blue eyes and slapping his hand away. There was more important matters at hand, the sulking Momo… Well, he could just deal with that later.

"I do have to congratulate you on creating such a good start though, there isn't anyone in this company that doesn't know you by now." A soft laugh before Sakurai continued "You're quite the subject during breaks I tell you" Eiji stared at him at disbelief, eyes blinking for reasons he didn't know himself, and of course Sakurai only smiled before once again opening his mouth.

"Everyone talks about the mystic redhead that scolded some of the artists _and_ managed to break the sound barrier when he rushed through the corridors, almost sending one of the secretaries to the hospital" Sakurai chuckled gently at the last part, probably he had had heard quite some stories from the secretary in question.

"But… but… A-Aozu…?" the brand new band leader managed to stutter forward, there was just no possibility that his deed had gone unnoticed. However Sakurai seemed to get very surprised over his last question.

"Well…" he started. "I haven't heard them mentioning anything, but I am sure they have heard about you one way or another… but we have more important matters at hands don't we?" he stood up and started to look for something among his shelves. "When I told everyone that you were a candidate for the next band I thought about creating, those two decided to sign up. Really what you said to convince them is beyond me" he threw a look towards Momo.

"Does he play anything?" they both stared at the male in disbelief, not to mention shock. Or more than shock since well, they were pretty shocked already.

"G-guitar… I play guitar…but…" before Momo could finish his sentence Sakurai had pushed two pieces of papers in front of them both.

"Here, your contracts. I need your parents approval here and here" the manager pointed on a few spots on the paper while he spoke. "…then _after_ you have read through the policy, please sign here…. " He ended before adding. "You can turn in these later on, but you won't officially be working here before these are handed in so I would really appreciate if you could return them before the bands debut"

"Ah…" they both nodded slowly before looking at each other, trying to make their brains progress exactly what was happening.

"Oh, that's true…" Eyes gleaming with amusement. "…have you thought about a band name yet?"

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**A/N: **And Sakurai says his _'don't mind, don't mind' _like true Japanese! Isn't he even more lovely than before? I think I am going to make him main character soon… yeah right. And yes, I am so totally slashing Yuuto(Sakurai)/Nogami, so I had to use their names though nothing else matches, thank you for noticing.

Dear people, we soon have a complete Cap to bin, and to celebrate it next chapter will feature Aozu and be rather long, and then after that the lovely -dovely thing will finally start for real. Don't I have the strangest way to celebrate things?


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: **I do no own Silent Hill either, even though I sometimes wish I lived there. Beef jerky sounds yummy.

**A/N: **This is a rather quick update (It would have been even quicker, but I slept over at a friends house for a few days) with a surprisingly long chapter. Why you wonder? Simple, I am an attention whore and the more reviews I get the happier I become, so feed me those reviews! I don't care if they are anonymous or not, just give them too me, it doesn't take you sooo long to give me a sentence or two, or just an _"UPDATE 33" _is plenty if you feel like it. Just… hit that review button!!

That aside…. Afafagfagsdhfajgfajdgf!!!!! CAPS TO BIN LOVE!!! GP LOVE FTW!!! AOZU LOVE FTW, FTW, FTW!!! Girls, (and guys?) I freaking love this chapter!

Also, if Inui and Kaidoh appears to be waaaay to married, blame it on yaoifreak.

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A few days later the two friends, and members of the newly formed band found themselves once again lead through the corridors of Seigaku by Sakurai-san, how Sakurai seemed to have no problem navigating was a greater mystery to the both of them since they really saw no difference.

Eiji figured that it was like playing in the apartments building in Silent Hill 2, the corridors looked exactly the same, not that there was blood on the walls or strange creatures lurking around, just that there was no way to tell corridor A from B, or plan 1 from 11. But compared to the game they did not have a map. Except Sakurai that _could _be counted as living one if they pushed it really hard.

Their contracts were safely placed in a folder which was gently tucked under Sakurai's arm as he lead the two boys into something that only could be described as an unending mass of corridors which all looked just simply the same.

They had a band now, 'Cap to bin'. How they had come up with that name a few days ago was beyond them, and they had even less knowledge about what it meant. He and Momo had tried to analyze it afterwards when they walked home together, but all that they really could come up with was either that they were throwing luggage in the bin, or their limits….

Actually, it _did_ sound kind of cool for something the redhead had made up on the spot, just simply uttering the first words that had entered his mind and well, here was the result. Truth to be told he _had _meant it as a joke first, but Sakurai had only nodded in agreement before scribbling something down on a piece of paper and here they were, and Eiji would soon meet the two other band members for the second time in his life…

…and another one for the first.

Sakurai had told them that when he had told Inui, the male with the glasses, about the members preferred instruments the male had only scratched the back of his neck before stating that they _did _need a drummer too. The next day a muscular brunette had been standing outside Sakurai-sans office, handing him a transfer request from another section from the company.

Both Eiji and Momo couldn't do much more than agreed with their new manager after having heard the males story that Inui most likely had pulled few strings, not that neither one of them minded though, especially since Eiji had no idea where they would be able to find a decent drummer, and if Inui had one, why make it harder then it was?

Suddenly they came to a stop outside a door and Sakurai knocked on it politely before opening it and entering the room, Eiji and Momo quietly following in the older males footsteps.

In an instant three pairs of eyes turned towards them, glancing, measuring.

The room was in fact rather large with a few bookshelves placed at the other end of it and to the right was a rather large collection of instruments and a few drawers, probably containing extra strings, papers and pens. To the left was a few desks placed along the wall, posters were hanging on the wall above and a stereo was placed on the desk in the corner together with a rather new looking computer, and in the middle of it all was a television together with a table surrounded by two couches and a few more comfy looking chairs.

Eiji hadn't even planned that they would get their own room, he still hadn't understood it before his eyes had caught the tiny sign on the door, containing the letters. _'Caps to Bin'_

Excited as he was, trying to take in everything in the room, the redhead almost missed the three people that were sitting on the set of couches, _almost._

"_Inui, Kaidoh and…__ Taka something" _ Eiji remembered as the newly formed band stared at each other, but surprisingly enough Eiji didn't seem to be the one who was the most nervous, even though he in fact, had _offended _two of the people in front of him.

Instead the grand prize went to the newcomer. The brunette was fiddling with his fingers, his glance was dashing from faces to equipment and anything really, and silently Eiji wondered to himself if their drummer would be able to play in front of an audience. Well it was still a long way to go before they were there wasn't it? It would be a trouble they would have to take care of later, they were after all in desperate need of a drummer.

None spoke and there was this tension in the air Eiji didn't quite like, they were supposed to work together right? It was pretty obvious to him that they wouldn't get any work done like this, and Eiji figured that _someone _had to break the ice, and since he somehow had been given the title band leader he guessed that it probably fell on him. So he mustered up his greatest smile and waved towards the others.

"Hellooo~" he smiled widely before continuing. "Nya, I am Kikumaru Eiji and the one over here…"he pointed towards Momo. "Is my childhood friend Momoshiro Takeshi, but just say Momo-chan since he really doesn't deserve anything more than that… or Momo-chan-senpai for the sake of it, if you by any chance happen to be younger," he saw Momo's brow quirk up in question but chose to ignore it. Momo was the only one he knew from beforeand he knew that the male could take a few jokes on his account, and to his relief Momo didn't put up a protest. Instead he remained silent and let him continuing his one-sided dialogue.

"…and you know what? He does actually play the guitar better than me! I am slightly better at singing though," he grinned and shot a v-sign, catching the small smile playing at the corner of Sakurai-san's lips. Inui was furiously scribbling something down in a green notebook, but even though it made Eiji quite nervous he only had to throw a look at his old friend in order to receive a reassuring grin.

"K-Kawamura Takashi," the brunette smiled embarrassed, scratching his neck in the process as he did so. Eiji's head snapped up, more than happy over the fact that someone else dared to speak, even though he never imaged it to be the quiet brunette. Still the tension had decreased even more and Eiji saw his chance and quickly jumped over to the couches and grinning, flopped down on the table, legs crossed and leaning forward as he eyed his new band mates.

"Inui, Kaidoh… right nya?" he smiled as he pointed towards the others which earned him two nods from the males. "…Tak….eshi?" he tilted his head to the side only to see the person in question shake his head.

" eh, n-no…. it's Tak_a_shi,_"_ the male corrected him shyly and Eiji grinned before pointing towards his childhood friend that had decided to join them, but Momo _was_ still clever enough to keep his distance and stand behind the sofa the majority were sitting on.

"Nya, sorry, sorry. Hoi, see Momo over there is named the same, he spells it with an _'e' _though." He shook his head. "Really, what were his parents thinking? Tak_a_ is the right way to go!!"

"Oi, oi, Eiji-spenpai!" Momo cried out, "That isn't nice, not nice at all!" Though it was more than apparent that the male was more amused than offended, which was kind of proved by the grin that was plastered all over his face.

Once again silence fell over the room, but this time it was more comfortable than before and Eiji had to say that he _did _feel strangely pleased with himself. Maybe, just maybe this would work out.

"Soo…" Eiji suddenly asks. "What are we… well… supposed to do?"

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It _shouldn't_ have been such a big surprise really, a company this large surely had a lot of space and it _was_ in the music branch. Still, having a karaoke room in one of the many rooms was a bit overdone if Eiji had to decide. But on the other hand it was possible that the artists weren't able to go and sing karaoke outside due to their fans, at least the more famous ones.

After Eiji's question Sakurai had quickly excused himself, something among the lines of paperwork, while Inui had led them through another labyrinth of corridors before arriving at a door that looked just like all the others, and opened it to reveal the karaoke room. If Sakurai was a living map, then Inui was one too. It was in fact the megane that had requested it all, stating that he wanted to hear their voices, and something else among the lines of data.

Whatever that data was Eiji had a strange feeling it had something to do with the notebook Inui always seemed to carry around.

Which proved to be right since Inui was sure to scribbled notes in it the entire time during the songs played, ordering people to sing this, or that song. When Eiji thought deeply about it he hadn't even choose a single song himself, Inui had done the work for him. But he decided to just tag along, he didn't mind really, the atmosphere was good, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves one way or the other, even though he had to admit that the frequent scribbling was starting to get on his nerves.

It was after Momo had sung his third or so song that Inui turned the page and ordered Taka to take over the stage, the brunette obeyed, slowly walking up, steps hesitant before he grabbed the mic and then… Well, whatever Eiji had excepted was certainly not that the gentle and calm brunette would suddenly go through a complete transformation, and start shouting badly pronounced English words that made no sense whatsoever during the guitar or drum solos.

Eiji had no idea what had just happened, and apparently he weren't the only one staring at Taka with wide eyes, however it seemed like the problem with Taka's nervousness had solved itself, since this side of Taka certainly hadn't the words nervous or embarrassed in his glossary.

"Oi, Kaidoh right?" Momo suddenly asked in the middle of it all. "Aren't you going to sing? I am sure you have a very lovely voi-" he quickly got interrupted with a high hiss. "What, I just think it's unfair that…"

"There is no need for him to do so," Inui cut in, pushing up his glasses to the bridge of his nose. "I have more than enough data concerning his voice." Then he was back to scribbling in his notebook, every now and then throwing glances at Taka. Eiji understood that they were better off leaving it at that, however it didn't seem like Momo agreed.

"Eh? Data?" Momo cried out, violet eyes large and surprised. "Hey, aren't we doing this because this is fun? You know, bonding?" There was another hiss followed by a single word.

"Idiot…"

"Huh? What, wait? What did I do exactly to deserve that huh? Who do you think you are, really? Do you…" Momo's angry speech quickly got interrupted by Eiji tapping his shoulder, a determinate look in his eyes.

"Momo…" hands stern on his kohai's shoulder "…duet time!" and with a wide grin he pulled Momo up to the stage beside him and gave him the spare microphone. The last thing they needed was a fight during their first day at work, and somehow it seemed like Inui agreed with him since the data obsessed man nonchalantly placed an arm around Kaidoh's shoulders and pointing at something in his notebook, asking something Eiji didn't quite catch and effectively making the other silent as a flush spread across the others face.

Thankfully Momo was so engulfed in his own singing that he didn't notice and therefore didn't find the opportunity to point out that their bassist was red as a tomato.

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Inui was… an amazing person, something Eiji quickly found out when they, the next day, found themselves in their room with a bunch of papers in their hands, containing what they should think on when they sang, what kind of songs that fitted them the best, not to mention which notes they needed to train on.

Surprisingly Eiji eyed through them, he needed to train on keeping the long notes, he should not try to hit that note before having gone through a proper warm up, surprisingly Inui had written that he had a very expression full voice, which was good. But he really should try to make it less emotional when he was tired. There was simply nobody that was interested in an artist that sounded like he wanted to be back home in his bed. Embarrassed Eiji pinched his nose. It wasn't _that _strange he had been tired, it wasn't like he was used to singing until three in the morning.

But still…

'_All this…' _ he wondered,_ 'All this after only a few hours of karaoke?'_

They were playing instruments today, Kaidoh was lazily flipping through the channels on the television while Inui took his notes, and the next day they got another essay about themselves, this time about their skills at playing an instrument.

Eiji _was _aware of that he wasn't the best guitarist… but still… wasn't: _"Should refrain from playing more difficult melodies before have practiced a bit more" _over the top? But then Eiji determinately shook his head, he wasn't hear to be nursed; he had to accept it all and work on improving it. It was just as simple as that.

The following weeks Eiji moved like he was in a daze, got up in the morning, brushed his teeth went to work. He found his way now. In the beginning Inui and Kaidoh had met up with them in the morning, leading them through the company. Eiji wasn't even going to ask why the two males always seemed to arrive together, and Momo simply was too stupid to find out. There was business Eiji didn't put his nose in out of respect, and of course because he didn't know the both of them well enough yet.

But it was starting to change, just as he now knew the way to their room (two floors down, right, right, left, down the stairs, right, down another couple of stairs, through the door, left, left and right), he was also starting to learn the others habits and they had somehow started to understand each other, and somehow were starting to get along, even though Momo and Kaidoh had their quarrels every now and then. It didn't really matter though, Inui and he were there to stop it before it became too serious.

They usually ate breakfast on the cushions, listening to the plan Inui had done the night before. Maybe it consisted of him and Inui were going to go continue with the lyrics while Kaidoh took the lead of trying to create the melody, or that Inui would join his lover, and pair up Eiji with Momo and make them hum the small text they had created this far. Taka was almost always working with their melody though, mostly because Inui claimed that they needed the drum beat, since it was the most primitive part of a melody.

Eiji let Inui handle the practical, and set his mind to keeping a good atmosphere while they worked, which he succeeded with pretty well if he may say so himself. Sakurai-san also checked in every now and then, keeping an eye on them so they actually got some progress, picking up the sheet of lyrics, commenting that that part wouldn't work very well in commercial purpose, that these words were especially good and should be repeated at least twice to make some kind of mantra, that the melody was too bright here, too dark here…

And then it was lunch, sometimes Sakurai joined them, jokingly telling them to take the chance to eat outside while they could, or they would order fast food, bury themselves in the couches and discussing problems that had arisen, that there was something amiss in the text, or that someone just couldn't find the perfect note, even though it was ringing inside the persons head.

They used to give up around eight or so, Eiji wobbling home on tired legs, raided the fridge before he fell asleep, only to wake in a few hours to repeat the procedure.

He didn't mind though, he had started too really like his new band mates, and he enjoyed himself. He had never really been a workaholic, but it wasn't quite work. Work was standing in a dusty CD-store. _This _was enjoying what he liked to do the most.

And then the day was there, the day when they had spent almost an entire week trying to improve the song further, but it was just impossible and even Inui had agreed that even he couldn't find something he thought needed to be fixed. They played through it a few times, but the time they had spent on the song was enormous and they found out that they already knew the cords, the notes and the lyrics.

In a matter of minutes Sakurai was there, listening, nodding and giving them the thumbs up.

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Recording the song was nothing like Eiji thought it would be, it was time consuming, tiring to go through retake after retake and he swore that Inui's perfectionism had gone too far. Not that he minded though because that's what he wanted their first single to be, perfect. He had believed that it was just to walk into the studio, sing and then it was done, and he had been so horrible wrong. There were last second changes, like one tone was one fifth of a second to early or too late. It seemed to be never-ending.

"How is it going?" asked a cheery voice, making the members from Cap to bin turn their heads to look at their manager. Momo was of course the first to complain.

"It feels like we aren't goiing anywhere!" The youngest in the group cried, tiredly leaning his back against a wall with a loud thump. Eiji sighed, he couldn't agree more with his friend. He had known that it would take time to create a song, but he never thought that the recording would be just as time consuming as the rest.

"Don't mind, don't mind," Sakurai waved with one hand in front of him. "You're making progress, believe me." They nodded tiredly in response, slowly abandoning their instruments in a silent understanding of a quick break. Often when Sakurai visited them he had some kind of announcement to make, one way or the other. They assembled in a circle around their manager and gave him asking glances. Sakurai only laughed before he opened his mouth.

"I was wondering though if you by any chance could complete it in the next two weeks or so." He asked, immediately everyone's eyes turned towards Inui, who already frequently was eying some of the content in his notebook, scribbling down calculations.

"We probably will manage it if we increase our working hours by one each day," Inui was scratching the back of his neck. "It would be pushing it though." Sakurai nodded in response.

"But you do have the song don't you? I think the release can wait a day or two if you feel the need to do so, but I still would appreciate that you finish the recording soon though, without endangering the quality of course." They nodded in agreement, it was just the way Sakurai was, knowing that the result would be better if they just got a day or two extra, giving them the time they needed. The male in question ran a hand through his hair, wearing an expression that they had learned on a early stage meant that he was supposed to say something important, but just wasn't sure how to put it.

"Actually…" he started out, having the full attention of the entire band. "…I have requested a meeting with Aozu's manager, Kurenai regarding your debut…" a few brows furrowed, they weren't quite following their managers train of thought… _yet._

"Actually I signed you up for a tv-show not very long ago, and I thought that if we could get Aozu to cooperate with us and also join the show in question, the numbers of viewers would increase dramatically and therefore you would be able to reach out to a larger audience quicker, since a lot of people will be hooked in front of a program just by the mentioning of Aozu.…" Inui was already scribbling dramatically in his notebook and muttering words to himself.

"Certainly, if Aozu also would be there the viewers would increase with just about 78 percent, but then I have taken into consideration that a large amount of commercials about Seigaku's new band would have been done if we were the only to guest the show, otherwise the percentages would arise to just above 90 percent." A whistle was heard, undoubtly coming from Momo.

"Well, what are we waiting for then? We can't let such a chance got to waste, we just can't!" The youngest exclaimed and nods and agreeing mumbles surged through the studio. It wasn't like didn't Eiji understand their excitement. To be able to work with the famous Aozu certainly was a dream many people would kill for, but Eiji just wasn't sure. After all, it was just one or two months ago he had crashed into one of Aozu's members, probably offending him in the process. He wasn't sure how he had managed to go unpunished last time, but he certainly didn't feel like making a bet on it if he would be safe a second time.

"Actually I was just on my way to the meeting now, but I decided to drop by and take the bandleader with me," Eiji's eyes shoot open, wildly staring at his band mates that agreed with their manager, except maybe Momo who wanted to go and meet the famous band himself.

"Out of us all Kikumaru has the highest probability to make this succeed," Inui tapped his pen against this notebook. "Me and Kaidoh probably would scare them, Kawamura just wouldn't be convincing enough and the probability that Momo would succeed in offending someone is dangerously high, therefore Kikumaru is the obvious choice." Inui concluded, a grin plastered all over his face as the others agreed.

"…_at least Momo _hasn't_ offended them _yet_" _Eiji thought sadly as he got pushed out of the room by his band mates and found himself walking behind his manager. He didn't really blame them, it was his fault and his fault alone that he was in this mess, it wasn't really like he was lying to the others either. It was just that he never had found the perfect moment to burst out. _"Hey, remember the rumour about me as a hurricane sweeping through the company? Well, I actually did crash into someone, then I leant on the person in an improper way, almost soiled his shirt which I instead clutched on in a half minute or so, only to notice said half a minute later that it in fact was a member of Aozu, and in the end I made him walk me to the entrance because I was kind of lost and…"_

Not in a million of years.

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"Anoo… Kurenai-san?"

Surely Sakurai _had _knocked on the door before he had opened and stuck his head inside, but according to Eiji the entire process would have seemed a little more politer if Sakurai actually had waited for a reply. Eiji didn't think that his manager should wait _too _long of course, but to give Aozu at least two seconds to collect themselves surely wouldn't have done a major difference. However, he kept his words to himself since it took Sakurai only three more seconds before he grabbed Eiji's wrist and pulled them both into the room ahead, _and _closed the door behind them in the process.

A head snapped up, and Eiji found himself looking into deep black eyes, surrounded by an equally black head of hair that reached all the way to the woman's waist. Her lips were formed in a thin line and as Eiji allowed himself to inspect the surroundings, he became aware of that even though the room was much larger than Cap to bins own, the designs were pretty much the same. There was just much more of everything, and it was of course larger. And just like the first time the redhead had placed his foot inside Cap to bin's room the band members sat on the set of cushions in the middle of the room, seemingly busy as they all leaned over a bunch of papers that were scattered all over the table.

"Sakurai…" the woman declared in a loud voice. "I think I especially told you to wait outside until I had some time to spare you, as I assume you can see…" she lifted one arm and gesticulated towards the overly stuffed table. "…we _are _kind of busy over here…"

Eiji had lowered his eyes to the floor a long time ago, not willing to stare at the members in front of him. He was sure he could feel their stares though, five pairs of eyes burning into his body as they observed him, judging. Even though his mistake in a miraculous way hadn't reached the rest of the company, he highly doubted that the people in this room didn't know who he was and exactly what he had done to one of their band mates.

They really should have sent Momo instead.

"Oh, sorry, sorry," Sakurai laughed carefree, eyes gleaming behind his glasses. "It's just that we are kind of busy too on our side, the upcoming release and all that…" Eiji raised his head and managed to catch a glint of his manager just as he winked to the people in front of them, not missing a beat. "…and our band leader can't just leave the others in the middle of work for too long, so I wanted to get over with this as soon as possible."

Eiji saw the woman's mouth open like she was about to say something, and Eiji feared that Sakurai's outburst would just place them in a greater mess than they already were. Not that Sakurai _knew _about it, but still. Right now Eiji wanted nothing more than to just sink through the ground. But before Kurenai had the chance to give them a piece of her mind, another person interrupted her, voice smooth as silk, dripping with sweetness and Eiji searched the persons glance, only to find himself staring into a smiling face, eyes closed with a never ending grin.

"I think we can spare an hour or two, can't we Tezuka?" The brunette smiled sweetly, chin resting in a hand as the person in question sat crunched on the piece of furniture, elbow resting on the males thighs. "We have to take care of the starters, don't we?"

The person Eiji assumed was Tezuka heaved a sigh before agreeing with a nod. Smilingly the brunette stood up, grabbed the smallest in the group by the wrist and pulled him up to stand beside him.

"We'll just excuse ourselves then," for a moment Eiji swore he saw a flash of piercing blue eyes staring at the older male, but he wasn't quite sure, and before he knew it the smiling person was dragging his kohai behind him, gently humming _'come now Echizen, don't be like that'_ on his way to the door, smiling all the while. The last Eiji heard was the smaller boys slightly annoyed voice before the door once more closed behind them.

"I _can _walk by my self Fuji-senpai!"

And that was how the room, in a matter of minutes got reduced to a frightened Eiji, a smiling Sakurai, an all to shocked Kurenai since her clients just simply had acted on their own and completely ignored her opinion on Cap to bin's rather rude entrance. A stern face that only seemed to wish to get over with it all as soon as possible and get back to work, and a certain raven haired male Eiji only wished to be as far away from as possible.

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**A/N: **Long chaper _is_ long…. Next chap is the meeting, what do you guys think will happen?

GAAH!! I need to stop the freaking Kamen rider references, first Nogami and Sakurai, and now Kurenai, never mind that Kurenai is from Kiva and not DenO though… And Kurenai is not a girl in Kiva either… I am sorry, Wataru, Otoya!

I also made a quick analyze of the band name here, which I shouldn't have. Now I need to come up with one to Aozu too, and we all know that it's because of Inui's drink… and they haven't even met each other. GAAH!! I suppose I _could _say that it's Fuji's confessions to Inui's jucie's… but no… just no.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **Before someone starts to whine about the shortness of this chapter, let me inform you that the last one was _over 5, 000 _words. Also, this _is_ fluffy shit, or the beginning of fluffy shit. Same thing really. Be happy!

And no, it's not cliché that Eiji and Oishi were the ones that were chosen, it was fate I tell you, fate!

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"So, if I have gotten this straight," Kurenai sighed and pulled a hand through her long black hair. "You have gotten your band on a TV show and you want us to attend to the same one to raise the amount of viewers, is that correct?"

"That's pretty much it, yes" Sakurai replied firmly. "and I highly doubt it'll become a large problem since the show in question barely is an hour long. It won't take up too much of your time, but since it would raise the viewer ratings and therefore make our members more able to reach out to a larger audience. And since I have heard that Aozu's band mates have a very friendly standpoint regarding cooperation with newly formed bands compared to the other bands at this agency I do think you could spare us that hour."

"It's just my point of view that everyone has a certain degree of potential, and that they should receive a chance such as this" Tezuka answered sternly before his manager had any chance of cutting through.

"I can see that we understand each other, Tezuka-kun," Sakurai smiled sweetly, pushing a bunch of papers towards the male who started eying them quickly. Oishi, who seemed to be something like Tezuka's other hand, leaned over on the couch until he was sitting beside his friend, silently glancing at the papers in front of them, studying the text closely.

Eiji didn't like this, not at all. Yes, Sakurai-san's plan surely seemed to be going well, but this entire affair made him uneasy. Well, not the show thing itself really, just that he was sitting opposite the very person he had harassed a little over a month or so ago, and the raven haired male _still _hadn't said or moved in a way that told the redhead that the male _remembered _it at all. It wasn't like Eiji _wanted _the other to point it out, but still, it was frustrating just sitting there, studying the other and just _waiting _for the moment the male would blurt it all out. He was waiting, searching for signs that he didn't even know what would look like.

But the moment didn't seem to come. Instead Tezuka threw a quick glance at his friend before pushing the papers towards their manager. The woman sighed in defeat, obviously more than used to being voted down by her clients. Silently Eiji wondered just _why_ Aozu had a manager anyway, according to him they seemed to take all their decisions on their own.

"Out of the question," Kurenai snorted after having only glanced at the first sentences. "Firstly, two weeks is way too short notice, do you know how long time it takes to plan these things?" Sakurai chuckled in response.

"I just got the date myself, but I did do a quick calculation and came up with that one or two hours each day would give us plenty of time. And if you can't afford the time yourself I am sure that Tezuka is more than capable of taking care of it all on his own." If Kurenai saw the sarcasm behind the males words, she never showed it.

"Look, if you got such a short notice you should just have turned it down and-"

"Waited for another opportunity?" Sakurai cut in. "You should know that it isn't _that _easy for a band whose single isn't even _released_ yet to get onto a TV station." Sakurai pushed up his glasses as the woman eyed him angrily, obviously offended at being interrupted. Chuckling the blonde waved a hand in front of his face. "Sorry, sorry, please do continue."

"…as I was about to say, even if we did agree to help you, and even if Tezuka would be able to handle it, it doesn't take away the fact that _Tezuka…_" she motioned with her arm towards the brunette. "…is recording a single at the moment and therefore doesn't have that extra time to spare. I am deeply sorry for your bad timing though." Kurenai smiled sweetly, and the smile seemed to grow even more as it became obvious that Tezuka's recording was a factor Sakurai seemed to have missed when he dug around for information. Quietly Eiji wondered if the woman had something against them, or if she was just satisfied with, for once, being able to set her foot down without her clients driving over her.

"Oishi," Eiji's head snapped up just in time to catch the quick exchange of glances between the both males.

"Aah…" a that soft voice was heard as Oishi agreed with whatever Tezuka had said, nodding slightly before pulling a hand through his hair. Tezuka didn't waste any time, he just bent over and grabbed the papers from his manager and gave them to his friend who accepted them carefully, flipping through them once to check that nothing was missing, just in case.

"We'll accept your offer…" Tezuka eyed them sternly. "_If _you accept that Oishi replaces me." There was no mistaking the jubilant smile that arose on Sakurai's face, just as it was impossible to miss the disapproval that crossed Kurenai's own.

"Don't mind, don't mind. Actually I was thinking about leaving it to Eiji on our side, if that isn't a problem that is?" Eiji looked up on his manager with horror in his face, somehow the troubles just seemed to arrive one after the other, and he was unable to do anything to stop them. Everything just got decided without anybody listening to his point of view. Sadly he wondered if things would have been different if he had told Sakurai about it all right away, if the blonde would have dragged Momo or Inui with him instead. Or just would have skipped the entire cooperation with Aozu all together.

"It's fine," he heard Tezuka mutter and he eyed the person that he, from this point onward, would need to spend at least one hour a day with. The person in question seemed unaware of his frequent glancing, still looking through the papers he held in a firm grip. And then, green eyes met his own as the other looked back over the top of the papers, blinked once, and then twice in confusion.

Eiji felt his breath get caught in his throat as the corners of soft lips moved upwards in a gentle smile before the male stood up slowly and leaned over the table, offering a hand Eiji hesitantly accepted, shaking it shyly. It was warm, soft and he looked down at it. Somehow, something…

"Yoroshku…" Eiji found himself looking back into the by now almost familiar face, blinking in order to grasp what that word really meant since he seemed to have momentarily forgotten it. It hit him mere seconds later, and embarrassed he stuttered forward a reply.

"Y-yoroshku…" he saw lips once moving into a that gentle smile once more before their hands parted, leaving him with a strange feeling of uneasy and restlessness.

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**A/N: **Somehow I think this just turned from the rival thing I planned from the beginning to a get together fic, but it might just be me. Also, adrgqeaugaiueaf at the GP moment… ARHHGG!!! Finally, finally I tell you!!

Oh, that's true, feed me those reviews!!


	9. Chapter 9

**A:N: **Lately I have been looking around for translated songs as reference material for what is about to come. Now I have like 18 pages of translated lyrics to go through. Urghh…. I also think that I am starting to need another summary, someone that doesn't suck as hard as I on creating one?

The lovely-dovelyness continues~

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"Eiji-senapi!" Momo cried out. "Are you even _trying _to concentrate?" Eiji blinked, momentarily teared from the daze he had been in since the morning. He couldn't help it though, he was really tired. His scheme was stuffed as it was, and the last thing he really needed was additional meetings after work hours. Which, mind you, already were two hours longer than before due to that they desperately tried to finish the recording before the TV show.

"Sorry, sorry," he smiled weakly and once more swallowed the yawn that had tried to arise in the last two hours. "I am just a bit tired nya…" Why wouldn't he be? Yesterday Sakurai-san stupidly had suggested that they would plan the TV show _after_ work, since Eiji _did_ need to work on his recording as well, and Aozu had simply agreed. Oishi had agreed like it was completely logical, Tezuka like he couldn't care less, since he knew that his right hand would get the work done either way, and Kurenai just waving a hand at them in a typical you-don't-care-about-my-option-anyway manner.

And then they had went their separate ways, Sakurai following him to the recording studio since he still wasn't quite used to the way there yet. But he _did _know where Cap to bin's head quarter was! The recording studio only acted as a temporary one so it didn't count!

"_Eiji-senpai!" As soon as Eiji had stepped inside he found himself cramped into a tight embrace by his kohai. "Things have been horrible without you here! Taka has been recording his drum solo the entire time, and neither Inui or mamushi are any fun!" _

_In the end he succeeded to wriggle himself free from the males stern grip and complaints, only to be met with questions from their data expert._

"_Ahh… Kikumaru, was it a success?" He had nodded dumbly in reply and Inui had once again started to scribble stuff into his notebook, mumbling something among the lines of 'I see' the entire time._

_The rest of the day had passed quickly, Inui had started with perfecting the last of the drums, leaving himself and Momo with nothing else than singing the lyrics until their throats became sore. Kaidoh had been sitting in a corner, going through his note sheets to the bass, scribbling down things he would undoubtly discuss with Inui later._

_And then, just as they were reaching the end of the day, there had been a knock on the door. Neither of them really paid it any attention since the only person that ever visited them was Sakurai, and said man would probably enter the room in a matter of seconds anyway._

_However, there was no loud blonde opening the door, instead the knock was heard once again, a bit louder though, like the person in question was unsure if they had heard the previous one or not._

"_Yes?" Inui asked as he put down the papers he had been reading through on the table, glance turning to the door just in time to see it open and reveal a black haired male. Eiji could see the others eyes widen as they understood just who it was that was currently hesitantly taking a step into the room._

"_Anoo…" the male began shyly. "I was supposed to have a meeting regarding the TV show, but if you aren't finished yet I'll just wait outside and…"_

"_No, we were just finishing up," Inui refused his offer and pushed up his glasses to the brink of his nose before he started to collect all of his papers. Momo grinned excitedly over finally being able to get out of the cramped room and jumped away towards Taka, taking the drumsticks from him in a swift motion._

"_Taka-san, we're finished for today!" He grinned as Taka shyly rubbed the back of his neck, before nodding slowly and stood up, following Momo to the door where Inui and Kaidoh were already waiting._

"_We'll take our leave then," the data man declared before he made his way out with the rest of Cap to Bins members tightly following him. The last Eiji saw was Momo's wide grin as the male waved goodnight._

"_Bye, bye Eiji-senpai!" Eiji found himself smiling weakly as he slowly waved back. The door closed behind them and Eiji swallowed hard. He had tried to forget this moment, when Oishi would come so they could start the entire TV show planning. He had to say that he had succeeded rather well with it, until now that is. As Oishi walked painfully slow towards the set of cushions and took a seat opposite him, he couldn't help the panic that arose inside of him. He felt like he had been running away from a problem he foolishly had created, only to find out that he had been running in a circle and was now back to square one._

_He wanted to forget it all, but it was hard when the other male kept popping up from nowhere, making images of an action he would rather never think about again appear in his brain. Maybe it was only him that actually remembered it, but that fact didn't stop the player in his head from replaying the same film over and over again._

_Suddenly he was cut away from his train of thought as a soft voice gently spoke to him, catching his attention by making clear that he was not the only one present._

"_Shall we?"_

_He found himself once again nodding dumbly in reply._

Really, the more he thought about it the more it seemed like Oishi really didn't remember their first encounter at all. Not that he _minded _though, it was just… he didn't know. Maybe he was irritated over being haunted by a fact that no one else seemed to know about. There had been nothing in the males body language, voice, eyes or anything else that would have given Eiji the slightest hint about whether Aozu's bassist really remembered when he had crashed into the other. Or rather, if he cared about it or not.

He heaved a sigh and eyed through the note sheets in front of him once more, eyes narrowing as he tried to remember the tiny dots and just which part Inui had changed since yesterday. Three seconds later he had found it, and hesitantly placed his fingers on the neck of the guitar, humming softly to himself as he tried the new part of the song. Yes, it did in fact sound better like this, however it was hard to play the new chords when he was so used to the old ones.

Eiji closed his eyes and let the music take over, letting it fill his mind and wash away all unpleasant thoughts about a certain male he would need to spend the next week and five days together with.

It was refreshing somehow, playing the intro and concentrating on absolutely nothing else. Making the movements of his fingers the only thing that mattered in the world, the frequent stomping of his feet as he tried to keep the rhythm while he played. This was what he wanted to do and he couldn't help enjoying the melody he produced.

Exactly ten seconds later Momo was playing with him, their melodies matching perfectly. They were smiling to each other, just enjoying being able to play together like they had done such a long time ago. It felt like they reached the last tune too quickly, slowing coming down from their heights and almost confusedly looked at their band mates through the thick glass that kept them apart. Inui was nodding to himself, and even Kaidoh seemed to look directly at them, giving them credit for their work.

Turning towards Momo, Eiji raised his hand and they clasped them together before they took down their instrument and left the small stall.

"Ne, ne! How was it? Is it good enough?" Eiji chirped happily, and the grin grew even wider as Inui nodded in agreement.

"We can certainly use this recording. Now we just need the keyboard, drums and vocal," the man counted on his fingers, obviously pleased that they actually seemed to have stayed with the schedule. "But I think this will do for today. Also, I would like to point ou-"

Inui didn't even have the time to finish his sentence before there was a knock on the door.

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"Eiji, are you aright?"

"Hnnn?" The redhead tiredly rubbed his eyes. He seemed to have forgotten it before with all the adrenaline and the joyful feelings that surged through him while he played, but in the end it didn't remove the fact that he was still deadly tired. He had been trying to nail the melody since this morning, which had resulted in nothing more than breakfast. Which might not have been very unusual, but since he was already lacking a proper amount of sleep he was in desperate need of the tiniest bit of sugar he could get his hands on.

"Sorry nya. It was pretty late yesterday and I have kind of been playing non-stop since the morning," he yawned lightly and leaned backwards into the sofa, eying the other as an eyebrow quirked upwards and emerald eyes studied him closely.

He didn't know if it was because he was deadly tired or just that he was starting to get used to the other, but somehow Eiji found himself strangely at ease. He was still on guard though, against anything that could indicate towards _that_ time, but they had spent a rather large amount of time together lately because of the cooperation and he found himself feeling almost relaxed, _almost._

"Have you eaten properly?" Oishi was already collecting the mass of papers before Eiji even had the chance to reply. The other male had been in showbiz way too long to not know that when you said that you had been recording since the morning, it was literal.

"Eum… Breakfast?"

"Lets move to the cafeteria," Oishi suggested and Eiji found himself grinning in reply

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"I usually have the time to eat properly though," Eiji half-heartedly defended himself as he munched away on a baguette. He didn't want to other to think that he was being lazy with the food, even if Oishi hadn't accused him for anything amongst the lines. "Hoi, it's just that the last minute change Inui made just didn't want to be remembered, it was not my fault, really!"

He heard the light chuckle, not teasing; just a way for the male to show him that he was listening, and was enjoying their small conversation, even though they _should _focus more on the papers they had brought with them.

It was hard though, Eiji suddenly found out that he had so much to say and the other didn't seem to mind it from where he was sitting, smiling softly over the corner of his cup of coffee, listening without interruption. Before he knew it he had told Oishi the entire story, about Momo and their shared dream, his old job, how Echizen's appearance had made him take the step. Even though he _did _scratch the back of his neck in embarrassment as he admitted it, the words flying out from his mouth before his brain could register them.

He didn't know why, maybe Oishi had that calm personality that the people around him seemed to miss. His family were a bunch of hyperactive redheads and no one seemed to stop up even once, even if his oldest sisters did have her moments. However those occasions was very rare, and whatever you might tell her in a moment such as that _would_ haunt you for the upcoming three years.

But Oishi just… somehow he felt different, and Eiji couldn't help but start to relax in the others presence. Somehow he had ended up telling him about the entire Inui-Kaidoh affair as well, and Oishi had only laughed before he jokingly cut in:

"So _that's_ the secret to Nogami's lost men huh?" Eiji nodded before he took another bit of the baguette and swallowed almost way too quickly in his eagerness to tell the rest.

"But I thought I had made a complete fool out of myself you know?" He sighed smiling weakly at the memory. "…and I was kind of running away from them before I even heard their reply nya, rushing through the corridor like woah! Hoi, I almost, crashed into one girl see?" He blinked twice in confusion before his mind finally seemed to catch up with his mouth and he lowered his gaze, ashamed as he remembered that he should have changed the subject long ago. At least before he had reached this point.

"…and then?" Oishi offered him, probably not thinking that the stream of words that had poured from his mouth until just recently seemed to actually have an end, and just wanting to help his colleague get back on track. Eiji shook his head and waved a hand in front of his face and gave the baguette his entire attention.

"You know…" he looked meaningful at the other from the corner of his eye, feeling his face becoming flushed and he tried to hide it through bending forward so his bangs fell over his face.

"Ahh…" Suddenly Oishi's voice was the pure incarnation of realisation. "You met me there, didn't you?"

"I am sorry," his hands held the baguette in a firm grip as he heard the tremble in his own voice. "It was just… too much at once I guess…"

"Don't mind it, I have seen worse," Oishi told him gently and his head snapped up, eyes connecting with green-hazel ones, and he understood that he must have looked very surprised, because Oishi let out a soft laugh before he leaned just a little bit closer over the table and lowered his voice. "Once there was this very violent person who threatened us just because we happened to be in the corridor when he made his way out."

"Eh?" Eiji blinked in surprise at the statement and Oishi only nodded. "Really?"

"I don't think he will do it again though, both Tezuka and Fuji can be very scary when they want to… oh, and then there was another male who was laying on the floor crying, and the woman who threatened to hang herself from a lamp in the corridor with the help of her handbag if I didn't _immediately_ take her to one of the higher ups, since the person she just had talked with was _highly incompetent,_" Oishi chuckled lightly at the memories.

Eiji found himself giggling softly to it all, _'maybe' _he thought to himself, just maybe there was something behind the saying that there always was someone better, or worse than yourself. Then the conversation had just floated on, Sakurai-san's call and how Momo just had _happened _to be close by, about Taka's mysterious appearance and God knew what else.

"Anoo… Oishi?" Eiji suddenly asked, eyes gleaming curiously. "Why did you join this branch?" He saw the other tuck his cheek into one of his hands as the other pondered.

"Hmm… I am not sure myself. Really, I think I just happened to follow Tezuka when he made his choice. Though I _did_ go to an audition," he added in at the end.

"And you're saying that I didn't go to one?"

"Oh, I didn't mean it like that," Oishi defend himself.

"Like Momo then?" He cut in, because it suddenly hit Eiji how lucky he had been that his friend had been able to actually play. Because Sakurai had just came to the conclusion that Momo was Eiji's new recruit. If it had been someone else… like his brother…. Urgh, he didn't even want to think about it.

"Well…"

"Hey, that's rude towards Momo!" Eiji caught on and cried out teasingly, pointing a slender finger towards the other in the process.

"I never said that he didn't have any talent, did I?" They laughed and smiled sheepishly towards each other. Eiji let out a soft grin, he had felt kind of strange the entire evening and he guessed that it was mainly because of his lack of sleep and food though, he really should start to take better care of himself.

"Hoi, hoi…."

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**A/N: **Next chap is going to be an Aozu special, or Oishi special depending on how you look on it….. I think you get the point either way.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: **Auzo, I love you~

And TG too XDD

I think that I am in a desperate need of a new summary to this fic. Anyone?

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"Ne, Oishi?"

"Hmm?" The man in question raised his head just in time to catch the bands genius flopping down on the sofa beside him, stretching himself comfortably as Oishi returned to reading through the bunch of papers scattered over the table, tapping a pen against it while he pondered.

"How is it going with the TV show?" Fuji asked casually, leaning forward the slightest in a curious manner in order to catch a glimpse of the contense of his papers.

"Fine, we didn't get very much done yesterday though, but I think we'll manage it in time anyway," Oishi replied and circled a few of the words on the paper with the pen. "Aren't you going to help Tezuka with his recording? Mental support?"

"Nah, we all know that Tezuka likes to take care of it himself," Fuji waved a hand in front of his face before letting it fall down beside him. "A~ah, there isn't really much going on these days. "Tezuka is away on recording, you have the TV thing, and Echizen is God knows where, probably sleeping for all that I know"

"I would say that much _is _going on then," Oishi countered as he flipped through a few pages.

"Not for me," Fuji declared and yawned loudly. "I am bored, Tezuka always puts priority on his work after all." If Oishi didn't know better he would have thought that Fuji was sulking, however Fuji did not sulk so he shrugged his shoulders and returned to the work ahead. However, Fuji seemed to have other plans.

"Say, how is Cap to Bin?" Fuji suddenly leaned closer on the sofa and eyed him with interest and Oishi sighed quietly. They had a photo session later today, so he really needed to get the paper work done since the session in question interlooped with his meeting with Eiji.

"I don't know Fuji, I haven't heard any of them play, or sing for that matter," it was something with the way the prodigy smiled and chuckled lightly that told him that it hadn't been the answer Fuji had been looking for.

"Saa… I meant how they were. Do they seem interesting?" Oishi raised his head from his papers and quirked an eyebrow open.

"Interesting?" Suddenly he recalled a pair of daring blue eyes that seemed to challenge him in a lobby, a hurricane of red before a slim body had crushed into his own. Alert eyes that cautiously watched him from the other side of a table. A small, hesitant hand that was shaking ever so slightly as he took it in his own.

A tired but still satisfied smile as the person almost fell asleep on the spot, movements drowsy as they walked through a corridor side by side. A toothy grin as a baguette seemed to disappear into thin air together with the sleepiness as the person in question energetically chatted away precious time.

Oishi wouldn't use the word '_interesting' _but still… something…

Oishi's train of thought quickly got interrupted as the door to their room opened to reveal a slightly more annoyed Tezuka compared to how the male usually was. It appeared that there had obviously been a few problems during the recording.

"Where is Echizen?" Tezuka's voice was stern as he walked towards the cushions, but remained standing.

"My, my Tezuka," Fuji grinned and leaned forwards, elbows resting on his thighs and his head in his hands. "A 'hello' would certainly have been nice." With a sigh Tezuka sat down on one of the cushions, eying the both of them.

"The third verses melody just doesn't work," Tezuka declared. "We need to slow it down and rerecord it."

"A~ah" Fuji smiled from his position. "Sadly Echizen is nowhere to be found." Tezuka eyed Fuji irritatedly whilst the genius just continued smiling. Pulling a hand through his hair Oishi heaved a sigh and threw a look at the clock on the wall.

"Can't you just wait with it until tomorrow?" he asked gently. "We're supposed to have the session in about two hours so I highly doubt we'll manage to finish the recording today either way." Tezuka nodded slowly and crossed his arms. "Also there were a few things I wanted to go through before I mention them to Eiji." Two pair of eyebrows quirked up in question, but Fuji was the first to mouth them.

"Eiji?" He asked surprised as he fixed his eyes on Oishi. "Who is that?"

"Kikumaru?" Tezuka's surprise almost took him back. It hadn't hit him until now that he was actually referring to the redhead by his first name. Well, he _had _thought about it, but had long ago came to the conclusion that Eiji didn't listen to 'Kikumaru'.

Maybe it had something to do with the large family Eiji was a part of, which was something the redhead had told him about a few days ago in the cafeteria. Having such a large family probably meant that it was impossible for friends and such to call the members of the Kikumaru's household by their last names when they visited, which had tought Eiji to not listen to his last name, or something. Oishi wasn't sure, his family was not, after all, very large.

He _had _tried to call the male by Kikumaru, but had quickly learned that he often needed to repeat himself when he did so, while an _'Eiji'_ caught the energetic males attention directly. It was just natural that he would go for Eiji's first name then, especially so when Eiji didn't seem to mind it at all.

"Cap to Bin's bandleader?" Fuji cut in, eyes wide in curiosity. "Since when did the two of you get to first name basis?"

"We haven't!" Oishi almost cried out, it was in fact half of the truth since Eiji still called him by his last name. "It's just that you can't get his attention if you call him Kikumaru." Two pair of eyes glanced at him in disbelief.

"Look, it probably has something to do with-" he looked at his friends and suddenly decided that mentioning that he knew that Eiji's family was large probably wasn't the best thing to do for the moment. It was practically impossible to explain a phenomena like Eiji for two people who hadn't _'met'_ him themselves. They had seen him yes, but not talked to him, not started to understand him. With a sigh Oishi waved a hand in front of his face and turned his face towards the paper. "Never mind."

He missed the short exchange of glances between his fellow band mates.

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"So, we decided which song we will use," Oishi told him. They were once again placed on the rather comfy cushions in Cap to bin's room, Eiji lazily sprawled out on the one opposite to the one Oishi was sitting in.

"Eh? Really?" Eiji's eyes widened as he looked at the other. "Which one?" They had been waiting on Aozu's decision in order to be able to make a correct schedule, different songs took different lengths to play, it was just as simple as that. It wasn't like Cap to bin had had a hard time to decide on their song either, since as far as Oishi knew the band only had been able to produce one so far.

"'_Mata kimi to',_" Oishi smiled softly as Eiji's eyes scrunched in confusion as the other was in deep thought. "It's rather new so I am not very surprised that you haven't heard about it before." He offered gently. He understood why Eiji didn't know. In this business you rarely had the time for your own hobbies, which meant that almost the only music you listened to was your own, especially in the beginning of you carreer.

"Hoi, show me!" The redhead suddenly requested and Oishi couldn't help but chuckle slightly.

"Something like this…." He said and started to hum the melody. He saw Eiji's concentrated glance on him as he did his best to portray the melody using non-existent words. After a verse he stopped and Eiji blinked in confusion before he got a hesitant glance in his eyes.

"Oishi…" Eiji started. "No offence now, but… Hoi, you really can't hum."

He felt the corner of his lips tug into a soft smile, which Eiji responded with one of his toothy grins.

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Oishi sighed heavily and dried his sweaty face in a nearby towel. His fingertips were itching the slightest bit from playing too much, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. He saw Tezuka leaning against the low table in the room opposite his, headset on as the male listened to the beats.

Carefully taking off his bass and placing it in its stand, he left the room to join the others. Fuji was standing near Tezuka, also wearing a headset, lightly grasping one of the earplugs as the prodigy nodded to the rhythm. Echizen was sitting in a chair opposite the others, lazily drinking from a can of soda. Reaching out one hand Oishi grabbed his abandoned bottle of water and greedily took a few sips as he waited.

After what felt like an eternity Tezuka finally took off the headset and gave him an approving glance. Leaning back against a nearby wall Oishi allowed himself to take the first pause for hours. Tezuka had, just to be on the safe side, made him record the song in five different tempos. Thankfully he had found it easy to pick up a new rhythm, but it had still taken a long time. Why Tezuka couldn't have just tried one of them and recorded it again later if it wasn't good enough was beyond him.

He sighed contented and let a feeling of satisfaction wash over him only to, moments later, disappear to make path for a worried ache that appeared in his chest when he threw a glance at the clock on the wall. He _knew _that he had spent a long time in the stall, but the amount of lost time the clock pointed towards was just plain absurd. He still found himself collected his few belongings before he excused himself and made his leave, dashing through the corridor at a speed that probably very much resembled the redheads own mere months ago, but somehow it felt like it had happened just yesterday.

"_Eiji,"_

He knew that he should have ran to Aozu's room first and grabbed the papers he had left there before he had made his way to the recording studio the very same morning, but for some reason he found himself running directly towards Cap to Bins room instead, heartbeat pounding in his ears as he finally arrived to the by now familiar door and hurriedly knocked on it.

There was no answer, no happy voice telling him to come inside, not a darker one either as the first time he arrived here. He knocked again, only to once again be rewarded by silence. Why wouldn't he? It was two hours past their appointment time, there was no sane person that would wait that long.

It didn't matter how famous Aozu was, being famous was never a good reason to be late, as long as you weren't surrounded by a horde of fans and couldn't move the slightest inch. All other occasions it was your duty to keep a close eye on the watch, which he hadn't.

With a sigh of defeat Oishi wondered how he could correct this mess, in the last few days he had really started to like the redheads company, it was so typically that the only time he had _ever _been late in this business so far was now. _'Great, just great,' _he mused to himself as he unconsciously placed a hand on the doorknob and pressed down.

The door was apparently unlocked because it opened just the slightest due to his actions. Blinking in surprise at the faint light that escaped from the tiny space between the doorframe and the door, Oishi hesitantly opened the door and stepped inside, eying the rather familiar scenery.

It didn't take very long to locate the redhead whom, where sprawled out on the sofa in a comfortable manner, was obviously asleep. He had known that Eiji, for the moment, didn't have the time to sleep for very long, so it wasn't that strange that the redhead had taken the opportunity to take a nap while he waited. Or just collapsed, which probably was the case judging from Eiji's position and the mp3 which was still playing even though its earplugs had fallen out from the owners ears.

With a soft smile Oishi picked up the machine from the floor and shut it off which made the slightly glowing display black. Carefully placing the item on the table he took a look at the papers scattered on the wooden surface. It didn't seem like Eiji had worked though, scribblings had been drawn all over the papers and if he looked closely the awake male could make out a hamburger, a cat, and… wait, was that a book? He was just about to decipher the rest of the drawings when a faint rustle behind him caught his attention.

Eiji had moved in his sleep, and was now laying flat on his stomach, his head lightly tilted to his side as hair was sprawling in all possible directions. An arm was laying just along beside his head, effectively trapping the males face between the sofa, his arm and intensely red strands of hair.

Oishi blinked once, then twice as Eiji slowly moved his mouth in a silent word before his hand grasped the rough fabricate of the sofa before the sleeping form yet again became still. Somehow Oishi found out that it, improper as it was, was very hard to not let his gaze wander over the sleeping form beneath him. A soft cheekbone, a tiny nose, a flat forehead… he discovered that he could continue to ramble the things about the redhead he hadn't seemed to have noticed before.

There was this strange feeling of something warm that started in the pit of his stomach and started to spread through his body as he watched the redhead and he quickly tore his gaze away and stood up, slowly pondering if he should return to his room and grab his papers before he awoke the other. Deciding that it would probably be the best for many reasons he slowly made his way to the door. He was halfway there when a by now by familiar voice spoke.

"You're late," he turned around to see Eiji peeking at him from the sofa, blue eyes surprisingly awake and Oishi found himself simply wondering if Eiji had been asleep at all.

"I am sorry, we were recording and-" Eiji cut him off by waving a hand in front of his face before he motioned to him to come over, which he did. Suddenly Eiji had stuck his hand inside one of his front pockets and he felt his face becoming flustered due to the contact and before he knew it Eiji had fished up his mobile from his jeans and was hammering away at the speed of light on it, seconds later he heard the faint sound of a ringtone and Eiji handed him back his phone before the redhead started rummaging around in his own pockets and fishing up his own, writing something for a few seconds before placing it on the table beside him.

"Next time you're late I am calling you," Eiji warned him teasingly, playfully pointing a finger in his direction as he did and Oishi couldn't help the faint smile that tugged at the corner of his lips.

"There won't be a next time," he assured, he would make sure to set the alarm from now on. He just hadn't had the need to do so before, _and_ he would make sure they got a clock in the recording stall, a really large one.

Eiji only grinned at him in reply.

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**A/N: **Chapter 10!! This is the longest story I have ever written! Am I proud over myself or what? What did you think of the Oishi special by the way? Wasn't it lovely? XDDD


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: **Because I really, really, REALLY like Oishi XDDDD

This story seems to have become rather popular lately on FF. Yes, I have looked at the traffic to it, but also the amount of subscribers have increased like woah. So why is it that neither of those have reviewed? Look, one sentence or two, it'll hardly take you more than a minute. Just compare it to how much time I have spent writing this.

(…and how many hours TG has spent beta reading this…)

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It hadn't taken very long before Oishi had noticed that Eiji had a habit of searching for physical contact with anyone that stood somewhat close to the redhead. He had seen it before while said person interacted with Momoshiro or Sakurai, and lately it seemed like he himself had become one of the targets of Kikumaru's frequent glomping. Things like flinging an arm around a shoulder, hugging, or actually sticking a hand inside someone else pockets without any warning seemed to be completely natural for the energetic male.

Oishi had, truth to be told found it rather awkward at first, not being used to so much physical contact by someone else other than maybe his closest family, or wait; he couldn't even recall a single time his mother had reached down in _his _pockets in search of _his_ cell phone. However, he mused; she hadn't had the need to do so either.

But one thing was for sure, he had gradually become more and more used to the closeness Eiji seemed to need in order to feel comfortable around others. Maybe that was how the redhead showed that he trusted the person in question, or something. Oishi wasn't really sure because Eiji always wore a toothy grin that never allowed anyone to come close to the other. It was, Oishi decided, a major difference between being touchy and actually letting another human being take a part of the thoughts that surged through your brain.

Eiji always seemed like he had a great time and enjoyed himself, but the more time Oishi spent together with the redhead made him understand that the grin Eiji offered on a daily basis was a well practiced facade, and he hadn't seen it falter a single time. Whatever hardship occurred, Eiji always faced it with a smile and it made the older male uncertain, because sometimes there was just no way to tell what the redhead was thinking.

"Oishi, I am telling you that we need something more so that the viewers are practically glued in front of the television!" Eiji pointed out before he buried his head into the table before them, probably in order to hide another yawn Oishi figured.

They were sharing a sofa, or rather he had sat down and Eiji had chosen to sit down beside him on a spot a few inches from himself. He wasn't very surprised though, it was just the kind of person Eiji seemed to be. With a tired sigh Oishi rescued the papers underneath Eiji's head from becoming crushed which he, truth to be told, highly doubted weren't. But he wanted to go through them just once more, none the less, so the result would still have been the same.

"Aren't _we_ enough?" he asked, maybe slightly annoyed over the fact that Eiji seemed to doubt their fame.

"The way we have it now they'll watch your song and your talk time before they just simply swap the channel when it's our turn." Oishi blinked, he hadn't even thought about the possibility, but it really did make sense. The airing time wasn't really the best, it interloped with a rather popular reality show, and there was no mistake that there were people that would change the channel after Aozu had made their part.

"I suppose… but…" Oishi ran a hand through his hair. He wasn't really thinking straight today. It could have something to do with the fact that he had been crammed into the small stall the entire day, once again recording the melody to Tezuka's song. It was like Tezuka wanted this single song to be more than perfect, for the amount of time he spent on it was ridiculous, even with Oishi's measure, and he _was_ a rather thorough person.

"See? We need some_thing_, in order to catch their attention," Eiji once again merciless caught his attention with his endless rambling. He was sitting up again, blue eyes connecting with his own and once more there was that faint feeling of electric rushing through him, a feeling he had been more than familiar with over the past week. Somehow it didn't feel like it had been only a week since the entire cooperation thing started. It was strange, it felt like the time they had spent together was way too short for the males own liking, but at the same time there was that distant feeling that he had been with the redhead for years.

He shook his head, he was just being silly. The lack of sleep was slowly but surely getting to him, and in a few days it would be all over. The show would air and then they would go separate paths, maybe things would go back to normal then as well when there wasn't a certain redhead clinging to him day in and day out, totally messing up his mind in the process.

"Don't shake your head!" Eiji complained, his lower lips shot out in the process in a half joking, half serious pout. "Hoi, you just agreed that I was right, remember?"

Eiji was leaning closer and Oishi vaguely remembered that he had, indeed shook his head when he had been too caught up in his own thoughts. Desperately trying to regain his personal space that always seemed to shrink when Eiji was close by, he leaned closer to the table, and away from the slim form that was advancing on him. Surely Eiji didn't think to highly of it, but he certainly had other thoughts on the matter.

"I am sorry Eiji," he mumbled as he looked through the almost crammed schedule they had planned for the show ahead. "But where or what exactly do you suggest that-"

Suddenly there was a weight falling down on him from behind and he felt his breath hitch in his throat as the other leaned over his shoulders until they were almost cheek against cheek, and Eiji was still leaning against his back, almost trapping him in place as an arm extended and went around his neck and over his shoulders until a small hand landed in the middle of the paper in front of him.

"Nya, what about here?" Eiji almost purred as he rested his chin against his shoulder and Oishi stared dumbly on the paper in front of him. He wasn't quite following the train of thought in Eiji's brain, and truth to be told he had bigger problems at hand, namely the other person in the room that just felt too comfortable having sprawled out on his back, strands of hair barely ticking his cheek when Eiji moved ever so slightly.

"Here? In the middle?" he asked, somewhat surprised over how calm his own voice sounded. But he decided not to give it much thought, if his voice felt like cooperating with him when his brain didn't want too, then he surely wouldn't be the one to complain.

"In the middle?" The surprise was evident in Eiji's voice and he felt the others head move around before Eiji got a better view of the paper on the table. "Oh…"

With one swift movement Eiji lowered his hand until it was resting by the far end of the paper and Oishi could still not do much more than stare, still not having the slightest idea of what the redhead was planning.

"I meant here~" Eiji's voice was merry as he spoke. "We make you sing one more song at the end of the show and cram us into the middle." He suggested before pulling away and flopping down on his back on the rather small sofa, his head coming to rest on the armrest as he glanced up at the older male with a questioning look in his eyes, obviously searching for approval.

Sighing slowly, half of it because he had finally regained some of his personal space and therefore a bit of his composure as well, he gave Eiji a slight nod.

"I'll ask the others tomorrow, I can't promise anything though," he warned.

The grin Eiji gave him made a warm and fuzzy feeling spread through his entire body.

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"And you agreed to it?" The prodigy's rarely seen blue eyes were wide and very open as he eyed his band mate closely. Shrugging his shoulders in something he wished was in a casually way and not as stiff and tense as he felt, Oishi opened his mouth to defend himself.

"I already told you that I said that '_I will ask the others but I can't promise anything', _" he replied with a sigh. "It's just that we… _he," _Oishi quickly changed the word as he saw the look that crossed over Fuji's face which told him precisely what the other thought about their gradually growing closeness. It wasn't like he wasn't noticing the signs himself, it was just, was just…

"…he was worried that the viewers would just simply swap the channel after we had done our part," he continued as he fidgeted lightly with the fingers that were resting in his lap. "Look, I'll just tell him tomorrow that it didn't work if that makes you happy?" He told the brunette who actually seemed to consider the thought for awhile, at lest until Tezuka cut in.

"Fine."

Three pair of eyes turned until they were staring at their bandleader, Fuji became the first the mouth their surprise.

"Tezuka?" Fuji was glancing from Oishi to the brunette, his eyes had closed sometime during their short discussion, which were, the more Oishi thought about it not so much of a discussion to begin with, or it had been until Tezuka had decided to throw in his veto.

"I said that it's fine," Tezuka repeated, but there was something in Tezuka's eyes that told him that it was not, as the male stood up and left their room, probably making his way to the recording studio where Tezuka seemed to spend the majority of his waking time lately, not that Oishi blamed him or anything. This song was another obstacle Tezuka felt the need to overcome.

"Oishi…" suddenly he felt a hand place itself just above his knee and he looked up to see Fuji staring down at him eyebrows moved upward in a worried way. "I wouldn't get too attached if I were you." He warned him gently before the genius was off, following Tezuka out through the door. Helplessly his gaze locked with the last one of the bands member who just looked back nonchalantly before throwing the emptied can of lemonade into the nearest bin before standing up and shuffling his hands into his pockets.

"Mada mada da ne, Oishi-senapi," and then their newbie was gone, following in his senpai's footsteps and leaving the raven haired male alone. With a groan Oishi buried his head into his hands and closed his eyes in the process, welcoming the darkness that engulfed his field of view.

He was far from stupid as his band mates seemed to think on this matter, he did see the signs himself, he knew that his attachment to the redhead grew more everyday but he was rather helpless towards it because _someone _had given him work that required him to spend a few hours each day with the redhead.

He knew that there was less than a week left before the show, he knew that it was different compared to having a relationship like Tezuka and Fuji where the two of them was in the same band and obviously spent a lot of time together on daily basis, and even though their schedule was crammed it almost always matched, which meant that when they had spare time they had it together, something Oishi highly doubted would happen with someone from another band.

It just… wouldn't work….

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**A/N: **A bit of angst… not so very much though but still… Oh well, there will be fluff soon, I promise33

That aside, one down, one to go! Now Eiji just need to discover his hidden feelings and then, kuh, kuh, kuh….


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: **Seriously, I think it's thanks to the theme challenge that I am able to write such a long fic. I can just simply throw all my plot bunnies into the theme challenge and take my time with this one. Lovely is it not?

TG wondered just when I had written this, and all I can probably say for sure that it probably was really late on the night… or really early in the morning. Sorry for making you go through this TT__TT##

Thank you all who reviewed last time, it made me really happy33

To _bLARG_ (since I am not able to pm you an answer)

No he doesn't. He never has and never will have a chance as long as I have something to say about it.

I know, I have thought about it but it seems a bit hard to add in for the moment. Like the entire story will be way to large. Though I did add in basketball in the next chapter so it isn't impossible. All I can say is that tennis will not have a large part in here, but I might add it in later in order to make a song or two fit better.

You would be surprised if you only knew… kuh, kuh, kuh XDDD

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It really was a nice day outside, or so Eiji decided as he walked down the crowded street together with Oishi, an ice cream in his right hand which he absentmindly licked on as he looked at all the different people that were crossing his path.

"What did you want to ask?" Oishi asked kindly. Eiji turned his gaze towards the other, confusion crossing over his mind because it felt so natural that he momentarily had forgotten the others presence. But it didn't take very long until his puzzlement was transferred into a full out grin.

"_Oi, Oishi?" As soon as the raven haired male had heard just who it was on the other line his eyes were immediately drawn to his wristwatch, only to notice that it still was fairly early on the day. He blinked a few times in confusion before he answered into the receiver._

"_E-Eiji?!" He almost cried out. There really was no reason for the redhead to call him anymore, the show was due tomorrow and they had managed to do the last paperwork yesterday, which meant that both bands got a little extra spare time to go through their performances a few more times, which was by all means a very good thing, but it made this call pretty pointless._

"_Well, I have a little spare time see, and there was just one thing I wanted to ask you about the show, and well…" Eiji words were spoken in one long breath and Oishi found himself having a hard time trying to follow the other._

"_Hm?" He encouraged the other as he leaned back into the sofa he was sitting on, taking a short break from the papers he had gone through up until this point. This business was much more craving than it appeared to be for outsiders, something the male had learned very early on in his carrier._

"_Well…I was thinking…Hoi, if we could meet up somewhere and discuss it?" Oishi threw a quick look into the empty room, they were supposed to have a rehearsal in a few hours, but other than that there wasn't anything in particular and… "I understand if you're busy and stuff. It really isn't very important and so…but…well..." Eiji babbled on and Oishi found himself throwing a last glance at the abandoned papers before making his decision._

"_It's fine, where are you?"_

Somehow, Oishi mused, just somehow this meeting was alarmingly like a date. Not that he would say it out loud, but it still made his brow furrow the slightest as he watched the enormous amount of people that walked past them. The last thing he really needed was loose rumours about a secret lover to hurt his reputation.

Well, he _was_ prettysure that a few of his fans would become overly hysteric over the news, but there were others who wouldn't. There simply was a downside to all things, which was the reason Seigaku had created a 'non-official-relationship-policy' to protect their artists. They _were_ allowed to give a small amount of fan service, if it _could_ be taken for just an act of friendly affection.

They _were_ allowed to have boyfriends, or girlfriends for that matter, as long as it wasn't official and was kept a secret. Well, a secret from the society, because Oishi highly doubted that there was anybody who had worked closely with Aozu that had even the slightest bit of uncertainty about what level of _'friendship'_ Tezuka and Fuji had.

"Well…" Eiji sighed and glanced through the surroundings without really registering what he saw. "There… there will be a lot of people, right?" and to Oishi's surprise the redhead stared down at his cone of ice cream for a few moments before finally deciding to take another bite.

"Well, it_ is_ the point of this entire cooperation Eiji," he chuckled lightly. It was rather obvious that Eiji was in some kind of distress, and he had to admit that he was, deep down, very touched over the fact that the band leader had turned to him in order to search for some kind of comfort.

"But, I mean _a lot _of people Oishi!" Eiji exclaimed and lifted his hands. "I mean, isn't it scary to stand up there on a stage knowing that _thousands_ of people are watching you? If you do something wrong, if you…"

Oishi turned his head until he was looking at the other in surprise. Eiji was actually getting cold feet? Well, it _would_ explain why the redhead turned to him and not someone out of his own band. Since Cap to Bin hadn't debuted yet none of the members had been on a stage, let alone in a TV show, and naturally didn't have any experience with it, and he guessed that Eiji had yet to get to know some other celebrity except himself.

"Eiji, I thought you liked attention," because if there was something he had learned during the last weeks, Eiji liked to show off every now and then, _and_ to get a few praising and admiring words for it as well.

"I do, but it's different! See, when I get attention from a smaller crowd I can _see_ their reaction. I won't know if they are amused, interested…or if they are sitting at home laughing their asses of because of some silly redhead."

"Eiji!" He cried out at the others use of words, but Eiji only shrugged his shoulders at the unspoken scolding and took another bite of the cream. The redhead didn't use foul words very often, at least not during the opportunities Oishi had been around, so the male guessed that Eiji was really nervous.

Why shouldn't he? Oishi clearly remembered his first time on stage. The nausea, the feeling of a heavy stone in your stomach, the lump in your throat. Wobbly legs which almost refused to move, tense movements, a heavy weight on your shoulders… Oishi shuddered slowly at the memory, it wasn't a very pleasant one.

"They are just watching the show to see you guys anyway," Eiji continued. "Won't they just feel like we are in the way for Aozu and taking up your precious time?" With a heavy sigh Eiji threw the last of the cone into a nearby bin before he flopped down on an empty bench, nodding to Oishi to take a seat beside him, which he did.

"Well," Oishi mused, because it wasn't much use to argue against it. It had been the plan from the beginning, to draw out Aozu's fans in order to let Cap to bin reach a larger crowd. "You'll just have to take them by surprise then, won't you?" He heard Eiji snort beside him.

"Yeah, if they aren't to busy complaining about us taking up Aozu's _precious _time," the redhead crossed his arms over his chest and leaned backwards before closing his eyes. "I am starting to wonder if this really was such a good idea."

"It is, you're just a bit nervous Eiji, it's completely natural, believe me." He smiled at the other and he saw Eiji open one eyelid and look at him, showing him that he still had his attention. "It's still the same for me every time I go up on a stage. I feel dizzy, my body won't move as I want and-"

"Why do you put up with it then?" Eiji asked, his eyes glued themselves onto him and he almost twisted uncomfortably under the others piercing glance. "Why do you keep doing it if it makes you feel bad?"

Oishi didn't even need to ponder about it.

"Because, in that very moment the music starts everything changes. A strange calmness comes over you and before you really know what's happening you're singing, your body's moving on it's own and you're just simply doing the things you like the most, with a crowd that appreciate it all and-" suddenly as he understood just how _cheesy _it all sounded he cut himself off and as he stared at Eiji he felt his face becoming flustered. "Well, that's how it is for me, but… well…"

…and then Eiji was grinning at him, that sunny grin that he was much more used to than the anxious Eiji and it made him a bit relieved, and proud for that matter.

"Wow, that certainly sounds awesome," Eiji nodded cheerily before a shadow quickly flickered over his face and the redhead momentarily went back to his pondering self. "But what if I forget the words in the middle of it all, or if...."

"Then your band mates will tease about it later, it's only you who knows the lyrics so far since the single isn't released yet, right?" Oishi offered with a soft smile as Eiji's face brightened up once more. "No one will ever know."

"Promise?" Oishi found himself chuckling once more, even though he was wasting precious time for a small chit chat when he _was_ supposed to do paper work instead, even though he was supposed to be back at Seigaku in less than twenty minutes for the rehearsal.

"I promise"

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**A/N: **Next time, the TV show…. Oh I have been looking forward to writing that since like… well… the _beginning_ of this story. Oh finally, _finally _I tell you!!

SO I DEMAND REVIEWS!! The more I get the quicker the thing we have all been waiting on will appear 33


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: **13 is an unlucky number, is it not? I am now officially making it a lucky one. Wondering why? Read XDD

The songs used is named _'Mata Kimi to' _and _'Taiyou no Paradiso'_ and is sung by none other than our beloved Aozu and Kikumaru Eiji. The songs are, obviously not owned by me.

Thanks to everyone that reviews last time, it made me really happy! Please continue to give me your awesome support 3

To bLARG:

No problem, I hope you don't mind me replying this way though.

And believe me,m I would love to be able to write at that speed, because then I would have even more spare time to write on XD

Well, the one who waits on something good. This chapter is rather long too, at least compared to the last one.

And yes, nervous Eiji is rather rare, but I get the feeling I have written him nervous rather often lately.

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So maybe it wasn't as bad as Eiji had expected it to be, but he couldn't be quite sure because of the large amount of people that were running around like the world was going to end on any given second, and he suddenly had so much to do that he hardly found the time to breath properly.

The technicians who took care of the lights _and_ the guys who worked behind the cameras had to know every last detail of what was happening in order to be able to capture it all. The shows hostess had once again dragged him to the side to make sure that the questions and answers that would appear in the talk sequence were somewhat rehearsed, and he had recently came up with a theory that the poor girl was running between the bands in a somewhat desperate attempt to remember everything herself.

Also, this was the _third_ time the girl who had chosen what they was supposed to wear ordered him to change, which once more totally damaged his hair, which meant that he _once more _needed to go to the guy that took care of the hairstyling. Not to mention that Sakurai sent them all to revisit the make-up lodge since a little of that strange powder that made his entire skin itch had come off.

…Sakurai really was the worse of them all.

In the utter chaos that seemed to rule in the studio the man stood proud and tall and kept talking in a warning voice about _everything _they were not allowed to do out there on the stage in order to not break the company's rules. Inui had, of course taken notes, but his green book had quickly been confiscated by the clothing girl while she scolded him that putting _any _object in his pocket would make the tightly fitting clothing stick out and look rather strange, and therefore she forbid it.

Eiji _would _have laughed at his friends rather miserable look, if he hadn't been so busy with promising Sakurai that he would _not _say anything that would endanger their still non existent reputation.

Still, in that utter turmoil that existed in the studio he still had the time to catch Momo's eyes and give him a weak grin, and Momo grinned back. They were going to do this, and they were going to do it good. They had taken Sakurai's suggestion and had made Eiji the only singer, that way the audience wouldn't be confused over the amount of never seen singers that suddenly appeared and made their voices heard.

Eiji wouldn't lie, it was one of the reason he had been so anxious about it all before, since even though his team mates were standing behind him he was still _alone _out there. Though Momo_ had_ secretly promised him to start to singing if he lost the ability of speech, or sing, which might be the proper use of words in such a situation.

The thought that Momo might forget the words too never even crossed their minds.

Even if he was alone on the stage Momo would be with him during their talk time, and this time Momo was also allowed to open his mouth. Sakurai had even pointed out, not once or twice, but thrice that they should not forget to tell the audience about the friendship they had back in their childhood, and their shared dream which they were now trying to fulfil, together. Eiji thought it sounded pretty cheesy, and when he told their manager so, the older male ensured them that that was the point. The cheesier they made it, the better.

Suddenly a young boy stuck his head into the room, large eyes peering at them for a brief moment in curiosity before he notified them that it was exactly ten minutes until they started airing.

There was a three second long silence before hell broke loose.

Really, Eiji mused. Why Sakurai had chosen a live show instead of a pre-recorded one was beyond him.

There were stressed voices, strained movements and hurried footsteps running around as Eiji forcefully made his way just behind the stage. The other members had tried to stop him, told him to do a last minute rehearsal since they still had fifteen minutes after the show had started before it was their turn. Aozu was of course first out, both with song and a small talk before advertisement break. And then…

And then….

There was a short moment of dizziness as Eiji temporally lost the control of his own body and he felt his legs wobbling the slightest. He hadn't really had the time to think about it all because he had been so busy, but he really was going to do it wasn't he? Going to perform _live_ in front of _thousands _of people. Probably even more…

He quickened his pace, pushed the thought aside as he finally reached the spot in the studio there he was able to look at what was going on, on the stage without being seen himself. He wanted to hear Aozu himself, maybe not as a fan though, but he wanted to know just how _good_ they were for himself.

What he and Cap to Bin was up to after this entire cooperation thing ended.

And maybe, just _maybe _he wanted to hear how a certain smooth voice sounded when the male in question sung.

There was a lot of exited mumbling in the studio and he understood that the audience had already been directed to their seats, he wasn't sure how many there were though since the entire studio was in complete darkness, and for a moment or two Eiji found himself wondering if the electricity had given in.

But then there was the voice from a male counting down from ten, and the audience was counting with him, and then the entire studio fell into a complete silence and Eiji strongly believed that you would even be able to hear a pin drop and hit the ground.

…and then there was the faint, steadily growing sound of music and a moment later the spotlights were on and Eiji found himself blinking a few times due to the strong light.

And then Aozu was suddenly there, clothed in white, simple costumes which still seemed rather gracious on the members of band. The melody was slow and comfortable but it made him so very restless, he wanted one of them to open their mouth, wanted the unpromised singing to start.

But Aozu was just _there_. Teasing the audience with their presence, walking around on the stage like they had the entire day, wagging slowly to the music and looking out over the crowd.

"_In desperation a drop of water can be clearly seen after the scent of the rain fills the air._

_Everything is cleansed, but the thing that is not washed away is understanding,"_

Eiji blinked, Tezuka, the bandleader had sung the first two sentences, and really, there was no doubt regarding why the male was the leader of the band. Tezuka had a deep and comfortable voice, _and _he managed to hit every tone perfectly Eiji noticed. Another thing that he also quickly caught on was the enchanted state the audience in the studio seemed to be in.

Aozu where good, very, _very _good. Eiji hadn't expected something else, but somehow… the tension, the calmness, appearances, not to mention their voices. All perfectly matched and the band just was so high above his expectations that he had a hard time believing it himself. There was this enormous aura around them when they were on the stage compared to the few times he had meet them, and Eiji couldn't help but to silently wonder just how far the distance between him and them was.

"_In my heart I hide the wish I'll speak as sadness grows…"_

He could have sworn that his heart skipped a beat right there, on the spot.

Eiji's head snapped up and he quickly returned from the thoughts he had been lost into mere seconds ago by the soft voice. Oishi was singing in such a smooth way that he couldn't help the shiver which ran down his spine. The Oishi up there, the male who glanced out over the audience and into the camera, smiling gently as he sung seemed so very different, and yet so very him. There was no hesitation, no worried expressions. Just a soft, calm smile that made Eiji unconsciously wet his lips.

Oishi was… was…

He couldn't find the word, and without having the slightest mercy over him Oishi continued with a second sentence.

"_In my heart… Should I draw a map of the future with faith in facing the life ahead?"_

Eiji's throat suddenly felt so very dry and his skin was itching in a strange way that was kind of uncomfortable, but still a bit pleasant at the same time. There was a strange warmth spreading throughout his body as he heard the other male sing. It started in the pit of his stomach and slowly but surely engulfed the rest of his body until he was tingling all over.

He felt restless, stressed, and yet so very calm as he watched the other in the glow from the spotlight, black hair perfectly styled, deep green eyes that shone with an unfamiliar feeling which seemed to draw he redhead in, and he didn't know if he liked it or not.

It hadn't hit Eiji before just how handsome, and maybe, just maybe how attractive Oishi really was. He hadn't noticed it before since he had had such blast while hanging out with the other male, but it suddenly hit him as the other sung that he might never have seen Oishi like an ordinary _'friend'_.

Oishi was fun, he listened if he wanted to talk about something, but… well…

Friends were what people like Momo were, or maybe even Inui and Kaidoh. Friends didn't make him feel all fuzzy and warm or make him grin stupidly at every given second.

Oishi was something else.

Something…

"_If on that day it will all inevitably come to a standstill, I want to intercept it now,"_

Eiji blinked a few times in confusion as the person who sang was switched. The brunette was singing now, Fuji, Eiji believed was his name and he let out a breath he didn't even know he had been holding as he broke free from his previous enchantment.

Oishi was still there, on the stage though, and there was just _something _that made it hard for the redhead to think clearly as the other moved around on the stage like he owned it, which he very much did if Eiji was allowed to have anything to say on that matter.

"_Again with you I start running to the new days ahead. Through it all, through it all, will you go with this point of view?"_

Suddenly, just as the youngest in the group took tone Eiji felt a hand land on his shoulder and he turned around to see his childhood friend grinning at him and pointing to the corridor and he found himself nodding in response.

It seemed like Sakurai had had enough of his little exploration and wanted to have that last run-through, even though it was less than ten minutes until they were supposed to take the stage. As he quietly followed after Momo he once again heard Tezuka's voice rolling down the corridor after him and he tried to focus on anything else than the band that was currently performing, and a certain male that was up there with them.

"_The goal which we seek guides us to the end, so we will not be divided. Feeling with these hands, choosing, grasping, taking… we'll then continue forward, right?"_

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Eiji didn't believe he had been so scared in his entire life. Not in his previous life either, for that matter. He was standing backstage all alone, the rest of the band had already taken their positions on the stage and the only thing that made him stay here all alone was the fact that the advertisement break was not quite over yet. But it would be, in a few seconds.

He took a ragging breath before he leaned against the cold wall behind him. He didn't want to do this anymore, to face the audience and the thousands of viewers who wanted to nothing more than to just watch Aozu.

They were better than him anyway. There was a _reason _why he hadn't been accepted as a solo singer, was it not? He didn't have the required skill and therefore needed a band to back him up.

Well, if he thought about it Aozu was a band too. But the members had recorded a lot of singles instead on focusing wholeheartedly on the band.

Okay, so this might be their first song, but Eiji highly doubted that he would get a single anytime soon. Or wait, this kind of was his single wasn't it? Since he was singing solo and all.

No, that wasn't really the point.

The point was that he would, one hundred percent if he should quote Inui, go up there and forget the words.

Or faint…

…or forget the words _and_ faint.

Or do something else which was just as equally stupid and awkward.

"CAP TO BIN!!" the words suddenly reached his ears and he got torn away from his thoughts by one of the uncountable people backstage that uncaringly pushed him towards the entrance.

Suddenly he was just standing there, blinking in confusion at the large, uncountable crowd in front of him and he was nailed to the spot, couldn't think, couldn't move. Just _stare_ as the lump in his throat just grew even more.

He didn't know if he was breathing or not anymore, but he was dizzy and his legs were shaking so much that he thought that the audience ought to see it. He tried to swallow but his mouth just wouldn't move, his heart was beating at the speed at light, pounding heavily against his ribcage and… and…

… and there was a familiar sound of a drumbeat through the studio and like magic his entire body reacted to the tone, jerking him back as the paralyze temporally feeling disappeared, and before he knew what was happening he had jumped to the front of the stage and grabbed the microphone with a large, toothy grin as the rest of his band mates started to play the melody. His body was suddenly moving on its own, walking, spinning to the music.

His feet seemed to have got a will of their own as he sent another glance towards the crowd that watched him with something that resembled excitement. He was lifting the microphone now, was singing the well rehearsed words that seemed to pop up in his mouth without his brain even needing to register them.

"_Today, we're dancing, in a midday carnival. When their eyes meet everybody is friends, maybe. Even words have no place here, in this exotic carnival. I'll tell you everything with my smile, baby."  
_

Everything was merging into a pleasant mess of swirling colours and smiles, faces becoming one and he couldn't tell anyone apart anymore, and the crowd was urging him, _them_ on and he continued grinningly. He felt light and comfortable and so very free. Like the last of his worries had left him forever, like nothing could go wrong.

"_If they catch the rhythm, unable to stop. Even travellers will soon become natives, ready? The tension is, yeah, always high! If you step on this earth, it's a festival, lady!"_

He waved with his arms, shot a smile into the direction of someone he assumed was rather cute, but it was hard to see in his current rush. He felt the same joy he was currently experiencing radiating from the rest of the band behind him and he turned to them grinningly just in time to see them reach for their microphones to join him in the chorus.

_  
"Let's have fun! Hey, hey, hey! Everybody! The sun's PARADISO! Let's laugh! Hey, hey, hey! At everything! Youth's PARADISO!"_

He felt like laughing, felt like running a mile and then still have the energy to run even more. He didn't know where to, just somewhere, _someplace_. And still he didn't want to leave his position on the stage, and suddenly he didn't feel the need to do so either. During those minutes the song lasted this very stage was his, and his band mates home.

"_Throw away things like unnecessary feelings, forget not just the past but tomorrow as well!  
So, we're living just for the now, yeah, all right!"_

There was a flash of black as he let his glance wander to the side, allowed himself to watch the person in the entrance, standing just far away for the public to not to see, but close enough for him to notice. In that were same spot he had stood in just mere minutes ago.

And without a second thought he shot the other a smile, winking just so the audience didn't catch it. He knew Oishi did though because the other was smiling back sheepishly and scratching the back of his neck like a little kid caught doing something he wasn't allowed to.

He _almost_ laughed, because he was still singing, the world was still spinning and euphoric and his eyes practically beamed as he sung the next part.

"_Give me that innocent smile, and just like that unconsciously we dance. It's okay even if you can't do it well. Feel it less with your head and more with your body and through that you'll be perfect!"_

He let out a soft laugh during the guitar solo which disappeared in the rest of the noises, the crowd was ecstatic and so was he, he moved around, threw glances out over the crowd and every now and then to lone person in the back as well.

"_Shall we make noise? Hey, hey, hey! Throughout the day! The sun's PARADISO! The truth is! Hey, hey, hey! All year round, youth is a PARADISO!"_

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He knew that he was grinning goofily as he made a high-five with Momo after the song, knew that he was twirling around between his band mates in a way that only could be described as utterly childish. Knew that he probably was laughing way too loudly as the camera zoomed in on the hostess which declared that they soon would be back after a short break.

He was practically flying as he moved backstage, still on high on adrenaline as he quickly clasped hands with Oishi who had been standing there and firing of a white, toothy grin towards the other. Oishi was smiling amusedly, and maybe he held onto that hand a little too long for what was being counted as normal, but Oishi didn't complain, and he was way too giddy and happy to really care.

When he in the end let go of that warm, soft hand his palm was tingling the slightest, itching just so. And as he stared up into the by now familiar green eyes, for moment, just for a very brief moment Eiji felt a burning desire to lean forward the slightest, just a few inches and just… just…

He felt his face becoming flustered, felt his cheeks burn as the unwanted image appeared inside his mind and with and when Momo placed a gentle hand on his shoulder mere second later he offered an apologetic smile before he quickly retreated to Sakurai who was standing just a few metres away, waiting on them.

His mind was playing jokes with him.

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"You're, in other words, childhood friends?" The hostess was staring at them in awe as her light excited voice echoed throughout the studio. Momo let out a soft laugh and Eiji himself found himself smiling the slightest.

"Hmhm~" he sing-sang happily, "We was in the same music club back in school, he was my little sweet kohai you know. But it was me who started the band though nya, Momo just joined afterwards because he is lazy like that." Eiji grinned and leaned back in the chair, and as Momo let out another loud laugh and nudged his side Eiji couldn't help notice the effect that simple action had on the audience, which pretty much one-sidedly was composed of girls.

He fought the urge to roll his eyes and simply went to tell the hostess just about how the band had been created.

The Oishi free version that is.

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**A/N: **Long chap is long. XDDDDD

Soo, two down, none to go….. and now… well I have a few things planned out you see. It's time to say goodbye to the tv-show and move on to bigger things. Much bigger. Kuh, kuh, kuh.

FIRST SONGFIC, WOAAH!! XDD


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: **School has started so I have been a bit lazy with updating lately. It just takes up a lot of my free time. It's as simple as that. So keep reviewing to keep me on track 33

Okay…. Okay…. I _knooooow_. There was a bit EijiMomo in the last chapter too was it not? I promise that it'll serve as an important part in the plot in the future, just, please bear with it. Because we all want to see a jealous Oishi, right? _Right?_

A little background fact if someone hasn't seen _'Fuun Shon Atobe.'_ Atobe use to play a lot of tennis in Europe before he took over Hyoutei's tennis team when he joined the school, therefore he firstly was rather famous in Europe but less in Japan. So yeah, I am not actually making everything up, as you'll understand as you read on. I just mess with the timeline the slightest… and change everything into music references.

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"Tezuka?" Fuji slowly crawled closer to the other male in their shared bed and flung an arm around the other's stomach in the process. Tezuka had been wearing _that_ frown on his face ever since the tv show a few days ago. Probably longer than that too, but there had been so much to do those last days thanks to the show, that not even Fuji could be certain about it.

Tezuka let out a soft groan in response and placed his hand on Fuji's hip before he pulled the other closer and Fuji nestled his head onto the larger mans broad torso in response before continuing where he left off.

"You really think it'll be okay like this?"

There was no question about just what the prodigy was talking about, or which situation. Tezuka's greatest concern had, over the past months, not been about the carrier of their band, rather his long term friend, something Fuji hadn't been late on picking up on.

Tezuka was worried, so much was for sure.

Tezuka let out another groan and Fuji couldn't stop the chuckle that arose in his throat, but it seemed to annoy Tezuka just enough to make the other man open his mouth. For the last month the black haired male had been zoning out every now and then, but still there was no denying the fact that Oishi Shuichiro still had gotten the work done, and it somehow seemed that the male had put even more effort into it all than he usual did, and Oishi _always_ put a lot of effort into whatever he was doing to begin with.

The reason behind the increase of effort was more than obvious, but Oishi should have been more than aware that the cooperation would end after mere two weeks. He should have known that the two bands would go separate ways from now on. But Fuji still wasn't sure how the male in question would be able to tackle the gossip that had spread after the show.

"Probably."

"Have you heard the rumours?" Fuji asked and Tezuka nodded beneath him.

"Have you _read_ the article?" The prodigy propped himself up on one elbow in order to get a better view of the bandleader. There was a short moment where none of them said anything before Tezuka nodded a second time.

Sometimes Tezuka wouldn't even let Fuji know what was on his mind.

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"Mou…. Momo," Eiji complained as the younger male once more managed to dribble past him and place the ball inside the basket. With a defeated sigh Eiji sailed down on the floor into a laying position, where he stretched his entire body into a thin line before he crossed his arms underneath his head and used them as a pillow.

He could hear Momo pick up the ball just a few metres away and bouncing it on the wooden floor a few times before the unmistakable sound of the ball falling through the basket was heard.

"Doooon…." He heard Momo cry out in victory as the ball bounced away, Momo's footsteps tightly following as he hunted the poor ball down.

Eiji had always known that Momo had... special preferences.

During their time back in school he had a long time ago lost count of all the boy's Momo had been chatting away about. He hadn't truly cared then, because he had quickly learned that he simply wasn't the other boy's type. He wasn't about to start caring about it now either, but…

Momo liked bratty boys. Sure, he could be a brat every now and then, but there was a large difference between being bratty and being childish as himself. He had accepted the way Momo swung from the beginning. His family was not precisely the usual family type themselves, and Momo was fun and accepted him… and his family which was rather rare.

Sure, he used to hang out with a lot of people. But it really wasn't the same thing. He had been rather popular back in school and for the most part the people just stuck around in order to become somewhat famous as well. None really cared or had the strength to stay too long in the redhead's house together with his rather wild family.

He hadn't given it all a second thought until…. well until _yesterday_ when Inui had kindly showed them the fruits of the TV show. Cap to Bin had become rather popular if he was allowed to say so himself, but Eiji had noticed that there always seemed to be another side of the coin lately.

"Do we really…….. fit that good together?" He asked and he heard the ball stop bouncing as a reply for a few seconds, before Momo once again threw the ball through the ring before watching as it rolled away over the floor.

"Naah, they are _girls_ Eiji-senpai. Don't sweat it, don't sweat it," Momo told him before footsteps were heard and Momo once again went to pick up the ball. But this time he sat down beside the redhead instead of continuing to aim at the basket and Eiji couldn't hide the faint giggle that arose in his throat.

"Girls?" He asked in a curious voice, inviting the other to continue.

"I have never understood them really, I mean I almost have no free time as it is, I wouldn't even have the time for a boyfriend if I found some interesting enough," Momo complained loudly, bouncing the ball lightly against the hard surface.

"It's because you sleep too much," Eiji countered and he grinned as he heard Momo choke. "If you slept a third less of what you do you would have plenty of time to date a cute little boy." Sitting up slightly the redhead looked amusedly at his friend as Momo seemed to ponder about the option.

"It has a nice tone to it, has it not?" Momo chuckled slightly before he stared down at the ball he had placed between his knees. "Though I am not sure I would find someone that would appreciate not having an open relationship, especially since people seem to like to slash us together lately…"

"_Girls,_" Eiji corrected him, letting the other male eat up his own words as he accusingly wriggling a finger in front of Momo's face. "Girls likes to slash us together lately."

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That day when Oishi was arriving at Aozu's headquarters there was just _something_ in the air that didn't seem just quite right. There was that tense atmosphere that he only had experienced a few times before in his carrier, and it was during the time Tezuka had gone on hiatus for two months because of a damaged vocal cord. It had put a lot of stress on the rest of Aozu, but they had survived it.

But that didn't mean that Oishi wanted to experience it all again. The fans had gone wild since Tezuka didn't attend to the concerts, because there wasn't an interview with him during those two months when Aozu otherwise tended to appear in the papers once every second week.

There had been rumours about fights, a triangle involving the band leader for Hyoutei since rumours said that someone had spotted Tezuka in Germany while the band had a concert there on their European tour. Not very surprising since Tezuka had received his treatment there.

A coincidence, Oishi thought. But it was just those coincidences that the fans loved more than anything else.

The male heaved a sigh during which he wondered just what had happened this time, before he sat down on an available seat on the couch and pulled out the papers he had worked with at home the night before.

It took him five full minutes before Oishi understood that it was _him_ everyone's eyes were nailed at, and he rose a questioning eyebrow at his friends' because of their actions. As far as he could remember he had done nothing out of the ordinary those past days. At least nothing he hadn't done before that's it, since neither of them really lived any ordinary lives.

But for now he left it as it was, the things that you didn't know couldn't hurt you, and for the moment he had some important paper work to take care of.

It wasn't before five minutes after he had started to work that a newspaper suddenly got almost violently shoved up into his face. Looking up he saw Tezuka's concerned glance as the other dropped the object on his working area before the leader sat down on the couch beside him, way closer than Tezuka used to sit beside anyone else other than Fuji.

With a sigh Oishi once again turned his gaze down to the newspaper in front of him, eyeing through the article on the front page, which not very surprisingly was about their shared project with Caps to Bin a few days ago.

For a few seconds the world seemed to come to a complete stop as Oishi read the article, blinking once then twice, and for a brief moment there was something flickering over Oishi's features, then it was gone just as it had appeared and the males face became, underneath the worried gaze of Tezuka, solid and emotionless.

Without giving the piece of paper a second glance Oishi folded it over and pushed it away before he seemed to have resumed his paper work and the rest of Aozu let him be alone, giving him the privacy they believed he needed.

And they were right, because inside Oishi's head there was war going on.

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**A/N: **…………. It just seemed to go so well in the last chap, and what's a fic if there isn't some kind of obstancle… yeah, I'll just keep telling myself that okay?

I'll make it up to you in the next chapter, I promise!


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N:** Since people didn't kill me because of the last chapter I am reviving them as colleagues. Did you guys go _'wtf?'_ yet? Good, get on with the reading then :D

The song which is used is _7gatsu no ame (July rain) ~ Is this love?~_ sung by Eiji. This is another rather unknown song as far as I know, not as unknown as his _'Honey'_ though, which is surprisingly unpopular if you take into account that it has some very, eum interesting lyrics… Not quite as interesting as _'My lover' _though, but still.

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'_If this is all natural, and this goodbye has a meaning…_

Everything is too dazzling, and shakes this feeling. I count one flicker of light  
and lock my fingers together.'

He couldn't help it. The words just wanted to be written. Like an ancient curse he somehow had managed to fall victim to sometime during the show roughly a week ago. It didn't matter how silly the words sounded to him as he read them out loud, they were pounding at the inside of his head with a surprising force that made the redhead believe that he would succumb if he didn't let them out one way or another.

'_I won't ever forget you, your gentle smile.'_

Eiji sighed and leaned back into the sofa and closed his eyes. He felt restless, like the world was moving on without him, like he was a rock by the bank of the river, looking but not able to follow the stream….

He let out a faint moan, all those thoughts made his head hurt, especially since the train of thoughts always ended at the same spot, no matter how much he tried to avoid it.

'_Gently smile at me…'_

He grimaced where he was sitting, he wasn't sure if anyone noticed though, because for the moment he stubbornly refused to open his eyes.

'_When had all this started?'_ He found himself wondering. When had all those feelings started to pile up on each other in the first place, only to burst out during the TV show?

When they had been in the park mere days ago? Sometimes during all the hours they had spent working together? During the meeting with Aozu? When he crashed into him in the corridor? Even earlier than so?

He didn't know, and it made him anxious. He wasn't as stupid as people liked to think, wasn't as stupid as he made himself look like. Still he had failed to notice the signs, like wanting to sit closer, looking way too forward to their appointed time, lingering touches and glances.

He felt stupid, and even more so since he was sitting at the headquarters going through the same thoughts over and over again. They didn't lead anywhere and there existed so many better things to spend the time on, but he still he couldn't make his mind stop wander to a soft smile, a sootheing voice, gentle, careful hands…

"Eiji," he felt his lips tug upwards in a smile as he remembered the way his name used to roll over soft lips, told in a smooth voice, always uttered in a way that made his stomach knot pleasantly.

"Eiji-senpai!" A hand was placed on top of his shoulder, shaking roughly until he opened his eyes only to look up into violet ones. He stared emotionless at his kohai who was leaning above him, a concerned look on his face. "Is everything okay? You have been kind of hard to reach lately."

He pushed off Momo's hand with a wave with his hand before he leaned forward and snatched the small piece of paper he had left on the table and crumbled it in his palm with a blank expression.

"I am fine, really nya!" He smiled faintly as he shoved the offending note down into the pocket of his pants, Momo however didn't seem very convinced.

"Look, if you need to talk or anythi-" Momo fumbled, uncertain how to handle his friend when he wasn't his usually happy-go-lucky-self. Eiji made it easy for him by interrupting, eyes flashing for a brief moment as he punctured every word.

"I am fine." Deep down Eiji knew that he was more likely trying to convince himself than his kohai, but for the moment he really couldn't care less.

"A-ah…" Momo stuttered out, surprise written all over said persons face as the black haired male rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as an uncomfortable silence fell between the both of them. Suddenly the younger one lightened up and leaned forward the slightest in his eagerness to tell the redhead what was on his mind.

"Oh, I almost forgot," he started out happily. "Sakurai wanted to talk with you."

Eiji blinked in confusion, as a feeling he, by now, was rather familiar with took a hold of his stomach. He knew he hadn't been very present or hardworking the past week, knew that his manager really expected more of him, but somehow he had just pushed it aside as he had sunk into himself.

Whatever Sakurai had to tell him he probably deserved it.

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"Have a seat." Eiji did just so, placing himself in the chair opposite Sakurai, folding his hands in his lap and awaiting his sentence. "I have heard you have been rather gloomy lately, is there something I should know?"

For a moment the thought about telling him about it all rushed into his mind and he almost laughed at the silliness. Not only because he deep down knew that a professional never should let his own feelings interfere with his work, and also, the man in front of him was the very same man who had made him sign a contract where it clearly was stated that he was not allowed to have an official relationship whatsoever.

So instead he just went with shaking his head, if he mentioned it he would probably be in a worse situation that he already was.

"Hmm…" the blonde male rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I got a request you see…" Sakurai started off and gave Eiji an unreadable glance.

"A director happened to see your performance last week and sent a rather pleasant letter where he asked if..." the male stopped for awhile, looking through a few of the papers on the desk before he found the one he was looking for.

"Ah, here. _'…if it the bandleader would be interested in playing a minor role in his current project?'_" Eiji felt Sakurai's glance piercing through him and he shifted uncomfortably on the chair. "I must admit that the payoff is rather good and so is the conditions compared to that you only have appeared on the television once so far. It's based on a rather popular novel, so it's a very good opportunity I dare say," Sakurai pushed the paper aside and rested his chin in his hands as he looked at him.

"The question is if you're able to pull it of in your current condition…?"

It was more like a question than something the other mused for himself, and Eiji didn't think twice. Maybe this could get him back on track, maybe shooting for a movie could get him occupied enough to not think about the other. He had simply nothing to loose, and as he gave Sakurai's his reply he somehow felt a little pang of refreshment hit him.

That tingling sensation he always got when he was out in unexplored water, that excitement he had lacked the past week seemed to return at once and he grinned wholeheartedly as Sakurai gave him the schedule and another contract which required his signature.

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Eiji froze right there on the spot. He had done as Sakurai had instructed him and arrived early to show just how much he appreciated this chance, to show that he actually was interested.

The day had started out wonderful, compared to other days, a nice, long shower before he paid much more attention to his hair than he usually did. He even read through the script just once more before he left the house, arriving roughly twenty minutes earlier than he was supposed to be there.

He had thought he was going to be the first to arrive, had believed that he grinning, would greet all his new colleagues, making a good first impression and all that before the actual shooting began.

He had _not _expected to arrive as the second person, and more importantly, he had not expected said person to be someone which had haunted his thoughts for the past week.

"O-Oishi?" Time seemed to stay still as the other turned around, confusion written all over his face as the other tried to progress just what was going on. Eiji tried to progress it too, but failed rather miserably because _it was Oishi_ standing before him and he felt his heartbeat quickening just because of the thought, felt his face becoming flustered just over seeing the other there, features he hadn't been able to get out of his mind no matter how much he had tried.

"Eiji?" Surprise was written all over Oishi's face and Eiji felt himself quiver as the familiar voice rolled over him, too soft, too smooth and way too gentle for the time being.

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**A/N: **And from here on it can only be better, can't it? I really like how obsessed Eiji had become over the week they weren't able to see each other, I think it's rather charming. Or something, I am not completely sure myself…


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: **Oishi pov, someone? :D

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_Laughs where shed as the they ran around backstage, high fived, hugged and whacked each others backs in victory, everyone marvelling over how well the show had went. Eiji was laughing, leaning with one arm around his shoulder chatting with everyone who came in their way and every now and then throwing one or two meaningful glances at him, grinning softly._

_This was their show, a show they had planned. Something the both of them had created._

_Bonding time was always special and even more so Oishi understood, as Eiji was beside him easily making contact with pretty much anyone involved and making connections that would probably be very useful later on, even if the redhead wasn't aware of it himself. It surprised him how Eiji easily made those small changes in his personality that made him liked by everyone; the director of the show, Fuji, Echizen. Even Tezuka of all people… and maybe, just maybe he had succeeded in twisting Aozu's manager around his fingers too. Not consciously though, so much Oishi was sure._

_While Oishi himself often spent celebrations like these talking to people he knew since before, Eiji was outgoing and practically avoided the rest of his band. Oishi figured that Eiji probably knew that he could meet those people almost any day he wanted, but the rest was a completely different history._

_He didn't mind though, because Eiji stayed close to him one way or another and Oishi had the feeling that Eiji was completely aware of where he was, every given second. It was a scary thought, but at the same time he couldn't help but smile goofily at it either. Which earned him a raised eyebrow every now and then, mostly from Eiji, but Oishi could have sworn he caught a similarly expression once on Fuji, however he wasn't completely sure._

_He felt lightheaded and happy. Somehow the world seemed to have come to a standstill, with this very room as its centre._

_Just then Oishi was content. Unable to find anything to wish for._

_But when people started to return to their homes and when Eiji let out a faint yawn, before smacking his lips and rubbing his eyes like all the energy the redhead still owned, had run out with the sand in a matter of minutes. When Eiji smiled tiredly and told him that he was going to head home too and gave him a quick hug before he wobbled away on his legs, just then Oishi wished for so much more._

_He walked the redhead to the exit, so many thoughts wanting to be said. Heavy thoughts, dangerous thoughts he was afraid of sometimes even thinking about. He wanted to beg the bandleader to stay, or allow him to follow him home._

_He wanted to meet the other once more because it suddenly hit him that it was over, that from this point onwards their bands would go completely separate ways. It would be a small miracle if they happened to cross paths once more, even though they worked in the same company. _'Sometimes' _Oishi thought. '_Sometimes the world had a very strange sense of humour.'

_Eiji smiled at him as he saw that he had followed and reached out. Slender fingers wrapped around his wrist and pulled him closer, and Oishi's entire being was itching to turn his head, to press their lips together. Letting all his thoughts roll out over his lips at once. Trying to put words on those feelings that had surged through him those last days._

_However Eiji only reached forward, standing on his toes so he could reach his ear as he whispered a silent _'Thank you' _and _'Goodnight' _before withdrawing, Eiji's cheek gently brushing against his own._

_For a very brief moment Oishi could have sworn that something else had touched his cheek as well, something far softer and tender. But the moment was gone just as quick as it had come and so was Eiji. Oishi found himself standing alone in the doorframe, feeling stupid and still, somewhere deep down, a burning longing that threatened to consume him whole._

But it had probably just been Eiji's cheek which brushed past his own, nothing more and nothing less.

Because Eiji had a dream to fulfil, together with someone else in his band. A friend, a lover the redhead had had since far back in school. If you was going to believe the article that is_._

Oishi felt so utterly stupid over it all. He should have known, should have kept his distance like his friends had told him to. Fuji with words and Tezuka in with his behaviour. Echizen might have had too, but the young boy confused Oishi so he wasn't completely sure.

But one thing was for certain,_ this_ was probably the last thing he had thought would happen when he had shown up early at the studio. On the other hand he _always_ showed up early, but that didn't change the fact that most of the recordings for different movies he had been on so far had been rather Eijiless.

Just the mere sight of the other made him feel like someone had kicked him hard in the stomach, words from the article he had read roughly a week ago were punching him in the face over and over again.

Of course, none of this mattered to Eiji. For the redhead it was all the same. He was just a person he had met through work, maybe befriended a bit on the way. He saw the confusion cross over Eiji's face before the expression changed to a full out grin as the redhead raced over to him, crying out a happy _'O~ishi!'_

Oishi counted. It took the redhead exactly three and a half seconds to throw himself around his neck, laughing softly as he did so. Blue eyes beaming in fascination and excitement as Eiji buried him underneath a stream of questions.

_Was he in the movie too? Which character was he playing? Why hadn't he told him? What had happened since he saw him at the show? He wasn't over working, was he?_

It was practically impossible to satisfy Eiji's need of being updated on everything he had missed out on, when Oishi thought there were just no more questions to answer, Eiji threw out five new ones which he had no choice but to reply too.

Eiji had, thank goodness, let go of his neck awhile ago, because the rest of the cast had started to drop in one by one and since no one seemed to have anything better to do, they gathered in a crowd around him and Eiji listening or eavesdropping and Oishi felt himself getting more embarrassed for every minute that passed.

It didn't hit him before the director showed up that for a brief moment, all thoughts about Momo and Eiji had left him. The only thing which was left had been the sheer pleasure of once again being able to spend some time with the energetic redhead.

Slightly annoyed with himself Oishi shook his head and went to join the others who had assembled in front of the director who presented himself as Kurosawa, that he expected them all to do their best, sleep well and overall; take good care of themselves during the filming. He also briefly introduced the behind the scenes workers, like the make-up artists, cameramen and a brief introduction of the main cast.

Oishi had know from the beginning that he was the main character, knew that he would be playing against a girl in a cheesy love move, knew that he would have a best friend stalking around him practically every given second the girl wasn't on the screen with him.

He had known all that, he had read the script at least trice already. What he had somehow totally missed out was that his supposedly best friend's hair colour was red.

If there ever existed a God, Oishi decided that said holiness had a strange sense of humour.

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Oishi let out a tired sigh as he sank down in one of the soft couches over at Aozu's headquarters, successfully managing with the task to draw both Fuji and Tezuka's attention to him at once. Though he wasn't sure if that was what he really had wanted or not.

"Saa, how did it go?" Fuji sang pleasantly while leaning forward opposite him, eyeing him with half opened eyes.

"The usual," he replied as he shrugged his shoulders. "It was just bonding time today. I hardly believe we'll start shooting before earliest on Friday,"

An agreeing _'hmm'_ was heard from Tezuka's direction but otherwise the room stayed silent, something Oishi treasured for the moment. Right now he needed some free space, needed to be alone and ponder about it all.

He wasn't sure if his friends had caught on to the nervous vibes he was certain he was sending out, but if they did they chose not to mention it, something Oishi was so very grateful for. Because his band members knew him, understood and gave him the personal space he needed.

At least for the moment.

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**A/N: **Great, now I can't get the Tenimyu song Reunion, or whatever it's called out of my head. Don't ask me why though, since I have no idea myself.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: **What's up with the length of this story, seriously. 17 chapters? Wtf?

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It was just plain, indescribable fun, Eiji decided as he was sitting cross-legged on the floor, chanting the dialogue to scene eight over and over again. He had already memorized the scene in question a long time ago, but Oishi was sitting just opposite him, going through their lines together.

It was rather easy really, to simplify it all, they were only supposed to have a conversation, ignoring all of the other actors like they were in their own world and the girl and her friend would do the rest.

According to the director it was supposed to give the audience a feeling of the main character being hard to reach for the heroine, though Eiji had to admit, as he chatted away about anything and everything with Oishi, the other male was a far cry from _'hard to reach'._

Or maybe he was, because it was just something that seemed to have changed with the male since the last time Eiji saw him. It felt like Oishi was more reserved compared to before, like the other male, slowly but surely, was building a barricade between the both of them and Eiji didn't like it. Not at all.

"Oi, Oishi…? Did something happen?" He asked, tilting his head to the side as he fixed his eyes on the other, a brief moment later the other male eyed him back, a weak smile forming on his lips.

"No, not really," But Eiji saw through it, saw that underneath the poorly faked faced something had happened. But if Oishi didn't feel like telling him he wouldn't be the one to push, if Oishi wanted to keep it to himself he could. However, if the other ever changed his mind Eiji would happily be there to listen.

So he grinned towards the other, one of those large toothy grins he had practiced so hard on mastering before he turned to the page.

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"Awwwww, come oooon, it will be fun!" He grinned, patting Oishi's shoulders gently as he said so. "Yukiko is really looking forward to see you, you know?" Eiji blinked at him before inching closer and lowering his voice, whispering things which became lost in the rest of the sounds of the classroom.

However, Eiji knew that the camera in this very moment was zooming out from both Oishi and him, concentrating on the plain girl in the background. He didn't care though, heat was rushing to him from where his hand connected with Oishi's shoulder, his cheek was tingling from where Oishi's breath hit it. He felt more alive than he had done during the entire week.

They were standing so very, very close and… and…

"…and cut!"

...And just like that the moment was over, makeup artists were rushing up on the stage, checking every last millimetre of them, brushing off nonexistent dust from their clothes, drenched their skin even further in that strange itchy powder as the director watched over the clip they had just recorded.

The result of the shoot was satisfying, so much he could tell from the look on the directors face. But something Eiji had learned at an early stage was that Kurosawa seemed to be something of a perfectionist. Especially since they had recorded the same scene for roughly three hours straight.

This was only the third scene they had recorded. The first one seriously challenged the speed of light, it was an easy one, he just had to play chipper and happy about being able to see the main character for the first time after the summer vacation, being able to see Oishi after a week had passed without the other.

It wasn't very, hard not at all.

They hadn't even needed to retake the scene even once, and Kurosawa had also given him a very approving glance, probably pleased over the outcome of picking up a total stranger into his movie.

He had no idea how the recording of the second scene had gone, his character hadn't been in it, he had locked himself in an empty room and had crammed the script further, and a random backstage worker had come and picked him up an hour or so later.

But the third time didn't seem to go very well and Eiji wasn't sure who was the cause.

Or maybe it was just a very hard scene to shoot, since the room was filled with stage workers and all the actions of those people needed to be taken into consideration, it wasn't very strange when he thought about it. Absentmindly he threw a glance at the big clock on the wall and grimaced.

Half past eight, if this kept up he just might miss the last train home. It wasn't the first time it had happened, but Eiji did prefer his own bed instead of the cushions at Cap to Bin's headquarters. Not that they weren't comfortable or anything, he just simply liked his own bed better.

Suddenly Kurosawa stood up and eyed them all, before he started walking around to the cast and giving out directions. That girl kept looking into the camera, that boy had forgotten what to say and had stuttered something, which had made that persons partner react strangely and so it continued.

"..and you lose your concentration to easily," Kurosawa pointed at him accusingly, and Eiji found himself staring dumfounded on the long finger which was practically waving in front of his face. "You're doing an amazing job in the first takes, but then you just loose your focus."

Eiji nodded slowly, the accusation hit him hard, mostly because he knew how very true it was. He had felt it himself, the first try it was exiting, but after having gone through the exact same scene a few time it was just plain boring. It made him feel like there was no progress, like there was no meaning and, truth be told, he wasn't very fond of that feeling at all.

"We'll call it a day here, filming starts again same time tomorrow, make sure to be on time."

As soon as the last word had left the directors lips the crowds started mumbling like madmen with each other, girls were chatting away, complaining about how embarrassed they were because they weren't able to satisfy Kurosawa's expectations, boys laughing the matter off, trying, to act cool.

Eiji on the other hand was angry, not with the recording taking time, not with the girls giggling more than they worked. Eiji was frustrated with himself and his own incapability to stay focused, even though the majority seemed to share is problem. He had done his best, and it hadn't been enough. The truth was harsh and bitter, and the redhead bit down on his lower lip before he unconsciously twirled around on the spot, just barely managing to time it so that the person who had been standing beside him was just about to make his leave.

On the third day of filming Eiji had reached his limit, he was frustrated, angry and easily snorted at people that asked him usual questions. He tried, God knows he tried but it felt like there was something missing, that whatever he did or however he did it the result never turned out as he wanted it to be. Oishi seemed to be avoiding him too. He didn't understand, didn't understand what he didn't do right, didn't understand why Oishi tried to be as far from him as possible.

He himself had become overly happy when he understood that they would be filming together, just the thought of being able to spend a little more time with Oishi was something that made him wander around with a big goofy grin the first day. But not anymore, Oishi was distant, hard to reach and it was awkward to talk with the other, who never really met his gaze longer.

It was irritating with the filming, that they never seemed to make any progress. It was one thing after the other that just piled up on each other. He needed to get the frustration out somehow, someway.

"It's not really my fault!" He tried in a sulking voice, looking as the other froze on the spot and turned around so they were face to face. Blue meting green, daring the other.

"Eiji, I am not quite follo-" Oishi's glance was flickering between him and the floor, fingers gripping hard around the script he always had with him.

"If everyone else did what they should we wouldn't need to retake everything and I wouldn't loose my focus," he provoked further, crossing his arms over his chest and putting on a resolute face. "It's not strange at all that it gets boring after doing the same thing over ten times. Ever heard the expression _'déjà vu´?_'"

"Eiji, instead of blaming everyone else, why not just try to work on concentrating," Oishi suggested, not wanting to take anyone's side on the matter and somehow ending up in the middle of the crossfire of a, still non existent, fight.

"You think I don't?" He fixed his blue eyes on the other, let them bury themselves deep into the others mind, or at least he liked to think so, testing... "How are you able to do it then, to keep your concentration?" He asked slowly, tilting his head to the side, letting his gaze softening just the slightest as he did so.

"Hmm, me? Patience I guess," the man let out a faint laugh at the thought. Patience was, after all, one of his specialities if he dared say so himself.

"Patience?" Eiji asked slowly, tasting the world like he never had heard it before. He could see the soft smile which was tugging at the corner of Oishi's lips and Eiji felt himself fire off a small grin because of it.

"Can't you teach me?" He suddenly suggested, voicing the question before his brain had been able to register the words.

"Huh?" Oishi was starting at him in confusion as the angry façade he had put up mere minutes ago fell apart to his usual cheerful self.

"How to be patience! Teach me!" He grabbed Oishi's wrist and held it in a firm grip, "Pretty please?" He saw Oishi puzzled expression, saw him nod just the slightest in confirmation and that was all Eiji really needed. It was a golden opportunity to understand just why the other had been avoiding him those past days and he was, sure as hell not going to miss it.

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**A/N: **Okay, so next one will be veeeeeeeery interesting, don't you think the same? Hehehe, hehehe….


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: **This time I give you all a very long, and very nice special, sorry for the wait but I hope that you think it was worth it once you have read it~

* * *

"Woooah," Eiji was practically glued to the glass of the fish tank, gently pressing his face to it in order to try and get a better view on its contents. His deep blue eyes were wide as he watched the many coloured fish swim around inside their prison. The redhead eagerly followed their movements with his eyes and moved around the aquarium in order to see it from different angles, all the while a curious expression was plastered all over his face.

His childish behaviour would have amused Oishi, if it wasn't for the fact that the older males more paranoid side was starting to kick in, and he found himself whipping away invisible dust from his desk and pull at the covers of his bed to remove a non-existent wrinkle.

Which turned out to be a complete waste of time since Eiji, mere seconds later, flopped down on his stomach onto the bed, with a large cheshire cat grin, creating more wrinkles on the covers than there had been before Oishi nervously had started to try and straighten them.

"You never told me you had fishes Oishi~" the grinning male grinned happily as he watched the other from his position on the bed, the grin never faltering from his face as he did so.

Oishi had noticed that Eiji hadn't changed the slightest since the last time they had spent some time outside of their work, even if they _had_ been supposed to create the schedule for the show, but never mind that. The redhead was still the incarnation of pure energy and joy and was still jumping all over the place, which made Oishi almost believe that the more serious side he had seen very few times so far had more likely been his imagination, than something that actually happened.

However, Oishi knew that that wasn't the case. That time in the park, the redhead had been truly worried over the show and the amount of people watching it. Oishi also knew that the frustration Eiji had shown twice or more during the shooting was not something he had made up in his mind.

Eiji was a far cry from so easy going as he made his appearance to be, and even if it hadn't happened very often, the few times Eiji actually had allowed him to see a little beyond his cheerful facade, Oishi had quickly learned that the redhead gave everything he set his mind on a lot of thought.

He tried to produce a genuine smile as Eiji pushed his chest upwards with his arms and with ease, slid his legs beneath him until he was in a sitting position on the bed, legs crossed as he beamed at the other.

"There wasn't any time to do so," he replied, because it was the truth. When they hadn't been busy with work Eiji had used the time to chat away, and Oishi was happy if he was able to get a sentence or two said in the steady stream of words, that seemed to endlessly pour from Eiji's mouth.

Oishi had never minded it though, it was fascinating how much the redhead had to tell, and how easily he shared his experiences with the people around him without a second thought that some of the things the redhead had gone through was rather awkward, and Oishi knew that he personally never would have dared to share even half of the misfortune Eiji told him, if he had been in the redhead's shoes.

"Shall we try to find something to eat before we begin?" He suggested and Eiji just nodded slowly, still grinning at him before he unfolded his crossed legs and lifted his hand invitingly as he blinked and tilted his head to the side in a asking way which made Oishi twist the slightest. Eiji just silently raised an eyebrow at him and reached out with his hand further, giving Oishi no other opption than to take the offered hand and pull the redhead to his feet.

It was like a jolt of electricity ran through him as his hand connected with Eiji's own, and he hesitantly tightened his hold on it in order to be able to perform the task to pull the redhead into a standing position. Eiji's hand was warm and oh so very soft, and the place their skin connected was itching and tingling at the same time, creating a strange sensation Oishi found out he liked.

...and feared at the same time.

Eiji grinned victoriously at him as the redhead got what he wanted, blue eyes glimmering with a feeling Oishi quite couldn't name as he found his glance unconsciously wandering lower, from Eiji's eyes to soft lips which corners where curved upward in his trademark grin, showing just the slightest hint of white teeth behind...

Oishi found himself trying to swallow the lump that had appeared in his throat as the redhead came to a standing position in front of him. Eiji, Oishi noticed, was only a few inches shorter than himself which was something he had failed to notice before.

Sadly it now seemed impossible to not think about that if he just tilted his head down the slightest, or if Eiji raised on his head...

With an amazing amount of willpower and discipline Oishi didn't even know he owned he managed to snatch back his hand, and for a moment he couldn't help but marvel over just how much he missed the faint, almost non-existence touch when it once was gone.

If Eiji was surprised over his harsh retreat the redhead never showed it, instead he fired off another of his infamous grins towards the older male before he tilted his head to the side and declared that they really should start doing what they were here for, no matter how interesting Oishi's fish actually was.

Oishi agreed of course, more than happy over that Eiji didn't seem to take it the wrong way, but being the more rational out of the two of them he wasn't late to once more point out that they really should get something to eat first.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't need any help, Oishi?" Eiji was sitting comfortably on top of the kitchen table, legs resting on top of one of the chairs as he watched him rummaging around in the kitchen, skilfully handling both the oven and the stove at the same time as he was chopping a salad. Multitasking was something Oishi had learned quite early. It was often the little time he had aside from his work was spent on eating and sleeping. If the cooking took too long the amount of sleep he would be able to get would be reduced.

It was a really easy thing to do after the right amount of training, but in the end it saved him a lot of time, especially since Oishi preferred home cooked food compared to fast-food, something he knew many others in the same profession often ended up eating day after day since they simply hadn't the time to cook.

"It's fine, it'll be ready in a minute," he replied. Even though a extra hand probably would decrease the amount of time it took, the very last thing Oishi really wanted for the moment, was a certain redhead running around in his kitchen, standing close when he helped out and maybe, just maybe an innocent brushing of limbs or two, which the redhead of course wouldn't do deliberately, but did anyway since he had a strong belief that Eiji, to Oishi's fear, craved physical affection from anyone who was somewhat close to him.

"I'll set the table then!" Eiji declared cheerfully and before Oishi had the time to protest the redhead had already jumped off the table and was rummaging around among the many shelves, trying to find what he was looking for. "Oi~shi, where do you keep the plates?" He asked, searching for eye contact over his shoulder and Oishi found himself pointing to one of the shelves in defeat.

Eiji just smiled as he practically flew across the kitchen before he came to a standstill and reached up on his tiptoes in order to reach the shelf which was just out of his ordinary reach. As he did, Oishi couldn't help but stare as the short shirt the other wore rose the slightest, revealing the smooth skin of Eiji's back, the small and elegant, tempting curve of slim a waist, before the rest disappeared underneath the hemline of Eiji's pants.

If Oishi, at some point, ever had doubted how much of an effect Eiji really had on him before, those last doubts had been utterly washed away. With what felt like an herculean effort, Oishi somehow managed to turn his back to the tempting sight and continued with chopping his salad, only to feel something slightly brushing past him as Eiji made his way to the table with the plates in hand.

Oishi froze, right there on the spot, he knew how tense his position looked, but for the moment he really couldn't care less. His fingers were desperately clutching at the handle of the knife as he tried to concentrate on the task at hand, which sadly didn't seem to go very well at all.

Especially not when Eiji placed a warm, soft hand on his shoulders, making him turn his head and look at that adoring grinning face as the other asked where he kept the glasses and just _where_ the cutlery was located. He somehow managed to give Eiji the directions the other needed without moving from the spot, clutching at the handle as his last lifeline to reality.

His heart was pounding in his ears, the sense made him almost dizzy as he felt the level of his balance decrease and he swayed the slightest on the spot, he helplessly placed a hand on the counter as he tried to steady himself while the movement of Eiji only a few metres away suddenly seemed to be the most interesting thing in the world.

* * *

It never really stopped surprising Oishi how Eiji could turn practically anything into a decent subject to talk about, and to drag it out as long as he found the topic interesting, then he would just simply drop it without further ado and find another in a blink of an eye, and the most interesting thing of it all was that Eiji didn't seem to mind making a monologue of his talking.

Oishi didn't mind either, he had in fact, not very long ago, become fascinated with Eiji's voice. It was soft and edgy in the same time, not to mention so full of life that it almost hurt. Almost. How he changed the pitch when he felt the need to do so, either to underline something and sometimes Oishi believed that Eiji did it just because he could.

He vaguely remembered the redhead talking about some famous song for roughly twenty minutes, even though he really had no idea how the other managed to pull it off. He also remembered something about Eiji thinking that this job gave them way too little spare time, and he thought he gave the other an agreeing nod, but really, he wasn't completely sure.

Because it was sometime around then, he had found out just how intoxicating it was to watch Kikumaru put a piece of food in his mouth and chew it once or twice, before Eiji just swallowed like it wasn't worth paying more attention to, then continue to rant about anything he deemed interesting enough.

"Hoi, and when we _finally _get some free time, like tomorrow remember?" Oishi offered a nod but truth be told he was only half listening, it was just impossible to tear himself from the picture Eiji made in front of him, impossible to not steal a few glances of soft lips moving as the other spoke. He tried to kick his brain into working and for a brief moment, something about starting the shooting for the movie later than usual tomorrow, emerged in his mind before disappearing just as fast as it had appeared.

Eiji hummed content at his agreement before he continued, moving his hand the slightest in a way that was probably meant to show annoyance, but Oishi only saw the soft flexing and turned his gaze down to his almost untouched plate. At some point Eiji had asked him if he wasn't hungry since he wasn't eating and he had came up with a rather lame excuse, that he had eaten while the other changed and washed up after the shooting. It was, of course a lie, but Eiji didn't know and better was that he seemed to buy it.

He felt bad about lying, but for some reason he just couldn't bring himself to eat at all, Eiji hadn't eaten very much either, but Oishi guessed that it was because Eiji was so occupied with his talking that he occasionally forgot the plate in front of him, either that or Eiji really was a small eater.

"Mm, and when we _finally_ get some spare time," Eiji repeated. "Then your manager shows his evil side, puts his foot down and books an interview. A~ah, I want vacation nya!" Eiji heaved a sigh at the end of his complaint and leaned back in the chair, with a pout that did everything except make Oishi remember how stressful work really could be. Because for the moment even the word _'work'_ seemed so distant that it almost appeared to be a far of dream.

Suddenly the room fell into a silence Oishi really hadn't expected with Eiji there, he had got so used to Eiji shifting subject like others swapped channels when they watched television, completely random and without an end to the steady stream of words that poured from the others lips. But for once Eiji paused and poked the food on his plate with the fork as he seemed to consider something, brows furrowed like he was in deep thought.

For a moment Oishi pondered if he should have replied to Eiji's last sentence, but found out that it was a little too late to do so now. He mused about starting a discussion of his own, since the silence was breath consuming and tearing at him in a way he never thought possible, but at the same time he feared that it would just come out as something stressed, and for the moment he really couldn't come up with anything Eiji hadn't said before.

So he gave in, and once more watched the by now familiar forms of Eiji's face when he treated the food in a way Oishi, in any other situation, would find rude and impolite, but for the moment somehow seemed to ease the tension, in the way that Eiji was at least doing something instead of just staring vacantly ahead.

Oishi decided that a complete silence would had been far worse than a little poking with the food. On the other hand he hadn't almost touched his either and truth was that he was rather tempted to do the same, just to have something to occupy himself in order to not look so completely lost as he figured he probably did.

But suddenly, just as he was about to raise his hand to get his own fork, Eiji lifted his face and fixed his eyes with his own and held it there firmly on a level of seriousness Oishi had never seen on the other before. Oishi got lost, as he always did. Lost into the emotion full eyes in front of him, that always seemed to show a hundred emotions at the same time and his fingers itched, he felt his body yearn for something he didn't even dare think of in his head as he unconsciously wet his lip with the tip of his tongue.

Suddenly the moment was over, in a blink of an eye the expression disappeared from Eiji's face and the cheerful part of the redhead was suddenly right in front of him once more, grinning, smiling. He heard himself let out a soft laugh as the tension from mere seconds ago, seemed to disappear from the earth as Eiji grinned back at him, pushing away the strange sensations to the place they belonged.

The matter had disappeared in a silent agreement, as it always seemed to do. Like they sometimes didn't need words in order to communicate. Somewhere deep down he was relived, but at the same time, even deeper, behind the barricade he had built around the emotions he didn't want to see the daylight, he felt something else. But as always he just pushed it as far away as possible, if he ever had to, this was something he would deal with later, much later. So he made the barricade around the emotions even higher, not to mention thicker as he grabbed his fork to actually eat a piece of the food he had made...

It was when he had equipped the fork with food and had it halfway to his mouth that Eiji dropped the bomb.

"Oi, Oishi? Do you have someone you like?"

Oishi could only thank his lucky stars that he still hadn't been able to put the piece of food into his mouth, because he directly got thrown into a fit of coughing which he weren't able to put an end to until he had grabbed his glass and swallowed two rather large gulps of the liquid, and he guessed that he undoubtly would have been chooking on the food if he actually had had the time to put it in his mouth.

"Oi? You okay Oishi?" He turned to face the other and offered a weak smile and a quick nod as an answer, as he cleared his throat. Simply said, whatever he had expected to fall from Kikumaru's mouth once he opened it again was nowhere close to reality.

On the other hand it shouldn't had surprised him, really. He had learned that Eiji was a sucker for rumours. Not only had the redhead, time after time, told him about the rather questionable relationship between his bands keyboardist and bassist, he had also filled him in on all the details, that the both of them suddenly would disappear together, or that Kaidoh sometimes actually seemed to blush as the other whispered something in his ear.

Eiji had even successfully coaxed some of the details about Fuji and Tezuka out of him, not very much though, Oishi would never be able to abandon his friends like that, but just enough to satisfy Eiji's curiosity so the redhead wouldn't do something stupid like asking them himself the next time he saw them, and even if Oishi knew that Fuji would probably be highly amused over it all, Tezuka would not.

So maybe he should have expected the question to drop from Eiji's mouth sooner or later, it was just that the thought had never hit him before. However, the answer was clear as a day in his mind. If he said yes Eiji would never give up until he knew the person, and even if Oishi was rather certain he could come up with a fake name in a few seconds, he wouldn't be able to make up an appearance and personality so quick that Eiji wouldn't understand that he was lying, and why should he make it harder than it already was? Because Oishi knew he would end up lying whatever he chose.

So he smiled softly and shook his head; no. "Not for the moment at least," he told the redhead and couldn't help but be surprised over how casual his voice actually sounded, he actually sounded sincere even to himself, and he was fully aware that he was lying.

Eiji seemed to ponder about his answer for a long time before he went back to thoughtfully poking his food around on the plate. The cheerful part of him was once again gone, and Oishi found himself fearing the previous silence they went through, he didn't really mind Eiji being thoughtful, it was just that he wasn't very used to the more serious side the redhead sometimes had, and therefore he wasn't completely sure how to handle it either. It made him nervous and he twisted uncomfortably on the chair as the silence once more fell over the room.

He felt the seconds tick by, each taking an eternity to do so and still Eiji made no movement to start talking. Before he even had the time to register what he was about to do he desperately spurted out a question to counter Eiji's own. Anything to get the conversation going again.

"What about you?" His voice was stressed but Eiji raised his eyes and watched him in wonder, blue eyes large and with so many emotions that Oishi just couldn't pick one that, for the moment seemed to have the upper hand over the others. "Do you have someone you like?"

Eiji blinked, slowly, like he hadn't expected it even though it was practically a follow up to the question he had given Oishi before. Oishi noticed that Eiji seemed hesitantly pondering, like when you are at the top of the highest diving board over the swimming pooland wonder if you really should do the jump or just simply climb back down. Eiji was biting his lower lip in concentration, rolling it between his teeth in a way that made Oishi's stomach knot itself, and suddenly the small space between them the table provided at once, seemed so very large.

"I..." Eiji's brows were furrowing in thought, his eyes fixed on Oishi, daring, asking and hesitant at the same time. His otherwhise cheerful voice was low, almost dark compared to how it usual was. "...I have..."

Then Eiji's eyes was gazing into his own again and he felt himself lift a eyebrow, and before giving it a second thought he had asked Eiji another, which was precisely what he had feared the redhead would do to him. "Who?"

He immediately regretted it as something flickered over Eiji's eyes, before he broke the eye contact they had managed for a while now and stared down at his plate, his hands placed out of Oishi's view, probably clutching at his knees, Oishi figured.

It was such a stupid question really, because deep down Oishi knew, and no matter how hard it hurt him to let that name roll out from his own lips he knew he had to. Because it was one thing to talk about others, but when it came to your own sexual preferences it was a completely different thing. He had to let Eiji now that it was okay, that it wouldn't change anything between them.

So he opened his mouth, feeling like a police questioning his victim as he did.

"Momo?"

Eiji's laugh was so genuine that it threw him completely off guard. Whatever Oishi had expected from the other this surely wasn't it, however, nothing ever was with Eiji. However it completely eased the tension that had started to build up between them in the last minutes and Oishi felt himself smile softly at the relief that crossed over Eiji's face, and he felt the same feeling rush through him.

Eiji was clutching his stomach with one hand as he laughed, the other wiping away the tears that had started to collect in the corners of his eyes. Just as the redhead had calmed himself down somewhat Eiji opened his mouth. "Momo..." and was the instant the name fell over his lips thrown into another fit of giggles.

"Not you too Oishi," his blue eyes were filled with laughter as he eyed the other and Oishi only blinked in confusion.

"Pardon?" His question only made Eiji's smile widen even more as the redhead shook his head in amusement.

"Come ooon Oishi," he urged on. "The only ones who believe that are the fangirls we keep feeding with fanservice. I mean seriously, you saw how Momo followed after that little midget from your band, like a lost little puppy the entire night after the TV show right?"

Oishi had to admit that he vaguely recalled something like that, however he hadn't payed much attention to anyone else than the very same person in front of him in that moment, so the fact that he had missed it, didn't come as a large surprise.

"So... not... Momo...?" He tried, because that seemed to be the only coherent thought his brain was able to provide him with for the moment. Eiji just let out another laugh.

"No, not Momo," he beamed before he stood up. "Hoi, let's clean up here and get some work done." He suggested and Oishi nodded dimly before he also stood up, helping Eiji take away their still rather filled plates.

He was so very relieved that the tension which had filled the room mere seconds ago, seemed to have completely vanished together with Eiji's laughter, that the thought of asking which person Eiji, in that case, actually liked never crossed his mind.

* * *

**A/N: **Ahahahaha, somehow, this chapter became really freaking long. I talk about around 4, 300 words here....


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: **I feel like such an idiot, this was actually completed months ago, but since ff didn't like I was unable to update while I posted on my archive on lj. Then I just completely forgot about not having posted here. Thanks to Oshiro on lj for reminding me, I own you big times.

Well, well, well.... what can I say? FINALLY maybe? I don't know how long I worked with this, I have rewritten it six times so far and I still find some parts silly and stupid and RAARGH!!! I seriously just want to get on with the story at this point, I know the beginning sucks, but I think you can survive because duh, it was like two or three months since last time.

Thanks to glowstar who practically made me rewrite it a fifth and sixth time when I had it laying on my comp for weeks since I was so tired on it all.

And of course, to sis who is always there to correct my crappy grammar.

* * *

"Nya?" Eiji blinked twice and tilted his head to the side. "Character what?"

"Characterization Eiji," the other male replied as he studied him over the table in the living room. They were sitting on the floor with the script spread out all over the wooden surface, and Eiji felt more confused than he had ever been in his entire life.

"Nya?" He tried to voice his confusion and by the look on Oishi's side of the table, it seemed like he had understood that he wasn't quite following him.

"To put it simply, during the recording are you yourself or Yosuke?"

Eiji was, for the briefest of moments tempted to laugh, however, the expression Oishi wore was so serious that the laugh died on his lips. Yosuke was the character he was playing and truth to be told they were both a lot alike. However there were a few small differences in their personalities, not to mention that Yosuke was only fictional. That was why Eiji just didn't understand what Oishi was getting at.

"I am me! Hoi, Oishi, I know me and my character are alike each other, but nya, there _are_ differences!" He pouted slightly at it all, he had thought that at least Oishi knew him well enough to see the differences in their personalities.

"Maybe the fact that the both of you are different is a part of the problem," Oishi told him and Eiji felt himself blink in confusion. "You're playing happy, angry and easygoing... But they're only feelings, and since they are only feelings they have a touch of your personality, not Yosuke's. The fact that the two of you resemble each other makes it harder for you to act as the person since you're relying too much on that you're so alike, instead of having a character that's your complete opposite and.."

Eiji blinked again, he knew that Oishi was trying to say something important but he just _didn't understand_ what the other was getting at. Sure, he understood that he was acting out different feelings according to his characters personality, but the rest was just beyond his brain capacity.

Oishi seemed to understand that his words weren't reaching him, because his brows were furrowed and he seemed deep in thought of how to make the explanation even simpler.

"If...." Oishi stopped for a moment, seemingly thinking something over before he continued.

"I think that your problem is that you have a hard time seeing the thin line that separates your personality from Yosuke's, and since you're seeing everything through your eyes and not his, you have a hard time putting yourself in your characters situation," he gave him a glance. "Do you understand now?"

Eiji nodded slowly, still not completely understanding, but still grasping parts of it. But still, still...

"Hoi, Oishi....what has that to do with patience?" He tilted his head to the side the slightest as he tried to process the analysis Oishi was providing him with.

"It has to do with patience since you're not seeing every scene as Yosuke does. For him it's like every take happens for the very first time. The key to acting is that every scene has an influence over every character, and they change and evolve during every second of a movie. Therefore their personalities are never the same, and therefore, Eiji, you have to _become_ your character in the moment the scene takes place, to act like it's the first time it happened instead of being fully aware that it is actually the ninth take."

"We'll start out easy, okay?" The male asked as he saw the lost expression that was plastered all over Eiji's face. "Just try it once, just think really hard what your character is like."

"Hoi, he is like, much more proud than me and..." Oishi put up a hand to stop him.

"Eiji, you're not supposed to compare him to you, then you'll just return to where you are now. Just think really hard on what he is instead of what he is not, okay?"

* * *

The more Eiji acted as Yosuke the more he learned about the character, and himself. He was starting to understand just how very different they were, and how very alike they were at the same time.

Eiji knew Yosuke wasn't real and knew that he was only a fictional character, but in the moments he acted as him the other felt so very real, like he really was another person and nothing someone had come up with on a nice sunny day, together with a cup of coffee in his or her hands as the person in question was sitting in front of his or her computer.

It was really late when they finally stopped practicing, time always seemed to fly away when Oishi was around, and he felt himself wonder if it was the same for Oishi too.

Eiji had long ago figured out that Oishi was dangerous, that getting too close was a dangerous thing. Like there was a line around him, and when you stepped inside that line everything changed at once.

You could joke around, having the time of your life with that wonderful, tingling sensation for hours, and then take that one simple step too close to the other and once you had taken that step, Oishi somehow seemed to suck you in even closer.

It was vexing and tempting, like when you saw a really tasty cookie on the kitchen table, but you were still able to behave and _not_ eat it because you knew that it was to be eaten after dinner. But when you, mere seconds later, took a step inside the kitchen and the smell hit you head on, there was simply no longer any way to turn back without taking a small, tiny bite.

It was like you _had_ to take one more step, had to fling an arm around his shoulder, had to stare dazzled into gentle emerald eyes until you somehow, with a herculean effort was able to escape into safety by taking a few steps back.

Or, if you weren't able to step back, if you got too close, like Eiji had on that evening after the show, you just had to lean closer until you felt that unique smell and the warmth the other was radiating.

And when you were so close, like an ancient curse there was nothing else you could do other than press your lips to the others soft skin. Just briefly, so he wouldn't notice, like it was a complete accident. Like it could have been his hair brushing past the tempting skin of Oishi's cheek. Eiji had at least that much self control that he could keep it to a minimum.

It scared him though, how completely and utterly powerless he became when he came too close. Even though Eiji seemed easygoing he still preferred being in control of a situation and god knew he often was. For him it was a piece of cake to talk other people into doing stuff they really didn't want to do, without the person actually being aware that they had been talked into it in the first place.

Eiji was good at manipulating people, a skill he had probably learned because he was the youngest child in his family and otherwise wouldn't have had very much to say. Some people might think that the things he did were sometimes a bit... reckless, but Eiji was always, as Inui would say, onehundred percent aware of what he was doing.

Except when he was around Oishi. Then he was utterly clueless as to just why he was behaving like he was or why he just _had_ to plant a hand on a broad shoulder to feel at ease.

Time seemed to fly away when he was around the older male, no matter what they were up to, something that Eiji yet again discovered when a shocked Oishi threw a quick glance at the large clock on the wall and then hurriedly mentioned something about the last train leaving soon.

It was like someone had had delivered a hard punch in the pit of the redheads stomach as he hesitantly followed the other to the hall to get dressed. There was a bitter taste in his mouth as no words were shared between the two of them and it all made him restless and uncomfortable. The redhead was not really there though, his head was spinning, his mind was screaming to stay just another minute, quarter...hour.

He liked Oishi's house, it was much quieter than the one he shared with his family, it had funny fish, smelled clean and like Oishi and... and Oishi was there. It would be an utter lie to deny the main reason he didn't want to take the train back to his own house, sleep and go to work.

His body felt heavy and he was moving with much less grace than he used to, because maybe if he moved slow enough he would miss the train, and maybe, if he really put his mind to it he might be able to make the other believe that taxi's were dangerous creatures, and therefore he needed to stay the night.

Sadly you could only dress for that long before it seemed unnatural, and as the redhead slowly pulled on his right shoe he seriously pondered about dropping his wallet somewhere along the way to the train station. Though he was fully aware that Oishi would lend him the money he needed for a train ticket anyway.

"Eiji?"

He had taken too long. He straightened his back quickly, too quickly as he, at the same time, took a hesitant stepbackwards. It happened too fast, before the younger male had been able to recognise what happened he lost his footing, stumbled and crashed into the others chest. A dry laugh was resting on his lips over the fact he had once more collided into the other, but he held it back as he raised his head and looking at the other.

"Nya, I am sorry Oish...." the rest of what he was about to say died on his lips. Oishi was looking down on him, emerald orbs shining with worry and something else Eiji couldn't quite place his finger on, and he wasn't sure that he wanted to either.

They were so close, he could feel the heat the other radiated, he could almost, if he strained his ears enough, hear the steady rhythm of that strong heartbeat. The other had encircled his waist with one of his arms in a protective way and his skin was burning where Oishi's hand was carefully holding him.

He couldn't help but wet his lips, because all of sudden they had become so very dry as he let himself sink deeper into the gentle eyes above. He knew he should pull back, knew that he should muster his last strength and step back, laugh the matter away, but he couldn't. He felt enchanted, like the only way to move was forward, just those few inches until he was close enough to claim the others lips.

He felt his head move on its own, a centimeter, maybe two before he was able to stop himself. However it was too late, he saw it in the other's eyes, even in the dazzle his world currently seemed to be he saw it. The realisation of what he had tried to do. He felt the panic arise, something was clenching his stomach and he felt at once so very cold. But he didn't move, couldn't move.

Especially not when Oishi, mere seconds later was leaning down and closing the gap between the both of them.

It was nothing Eiji had ever imagined it to be. Oishi's lips were so very soft and warm against his own. A million thoughts were rushing around in his head, but they disappeared one after another. A nibble here, a soft open mouth kiss there. An almost shy lick by a tongue over lips that suddenly had become painfully dry.

He felt dizzy as his fingers found the short strands of hair at the base of Oishi's neck. His knee's felt weak and maybe they were shaking the slightest too, but he was still standing thanks to the strong arms that were wrapped around him and were pulling him closer to the warmth ahead.

His own heartbeat was deafening in his ears, still he was able to hear the short gasps both he and Oishi's breath had been reduced to as they desperately searched for air through kisses. Hands desperately trying to find something to hold on to as the kisses grew more heated as time flew by.

Time.

Eiji had totally lost the feeling of time. How long had they been standing here? A small voice in the back of his head tried to remind him that he probably had missed the last train a long time ago, but truth to be told, he really couldn't care less. They could have stood here for hours for as long as he knew, or maybe it was just a few minutes. It certainly felt like the later, but he had learned so very long ago that time flew away around the older male. The fact was, what felt like minutes in fact was hours, which was not a very unusual thing, and he had often found himself having to replan his evening or day, he always ended up spending more time with the other than he had planned from the beginning.

Sometimes he wondered if it was the same for Oishi too. If the raven haired male also had to redo his planning, if he also had to be satisfied with way too little sleep because he couldn't tear himself from his company. Eiji didn't know and for the moment he couldn't bother to dwell on it for very long. Not when the other male was kissing him so deliciously, nibbling on his lower lip, gently exploring the depth of his mouth as hands seemed to live a life of their own.

They were both touching, desperately grasping anything they could get their hands on in order to assure themselves that this was in fact not a dream. A thumb was stroking over a jaw line, a hand fisting itself into by now messy, red locks of hair. A hand sneaking underneath a shirt, making both of them moan softly against each others lips at the contact as fingers explored soft skin.

No words where shared between the both of them, more than the occasional mumbling against each other's lips, but none were really needed either. They were enough to understand the depth of what they were doing, no matter how caught up in pleasure they were.

Sometimes among the kisses and touches, the jackets and shoes the redhead had hesitantly put on what felt like a lifetime ago had quietly fallen to the floor, momentarily forgotten in the heated make out season the both of them were engrossed in.

Hands were tearing on fabric as they, on cue, started to move deeper into the apartment, Eiji falling back and just letting the other take the lead and show the way, still encouraging the older male with soft sounds and demanding kisses. He knew he was trembling, knew that it was a small miracle that he was still standing on his legs and had not collapsed on the floor and he couldn't help but to look at the other in wonder, even though he could feel the rapid heartbeat vibrating through his hand that currently was fisted in the textile of Oishi's shirt.

A soft whimper left his lips when his back hit the bed, and he wrapped his arms and legs around the other, pulling him down and enjoying the heat Oishi radiated. They were so close, and still not close enough, and hands were once more tearing at fabric so he shivered in delight as bare skin met skin. His head was spinning and the only thing that existed in his mind was Oishi's soft mouth and gentle hands as the raven haired male started to trail kisses down his neck and chest, hands caressing his sides just light enough to be a tease.

He was making sounds he didn't know he was capable of, but it didn't matter because Oishi was making them too, and he was too caught up in pleasure and the heat of the others body to be able to care or even to register the surroundings.

His eyes were fluttering closed, even though he did try to keep them open, he was shivering, trembling and everything seemed to have transformed into a dreamlike haze. Like it wasn't happening, like it was just a far off dream.

It felt surreal, yet still so very real and he was gasping and panting. Thrashing around on the bed and crying out in pleasure, fingers digging into anything they could grasp and he found himself listening in wonder as his name and no one elses rolled of the others lips in waves.

Heat was pooling in his stomach and he pressed his eyes closed as the world seemed to explode, his moans being swallowed by now familiar lips and all of sudden he felt so very clingy and demanding, and still so very content at the same time.

___________________________________________________________________________**A/N: **No matter how glad I am over finally completing this chapter and finally getting some action I must say that the best part in this story was when Eiji compared Oishi to his sister's cookie.

Well, maybe not xD

Woop, lime, and no I didn't feel like writing a lemon, I feel dirty enough after the Platinium one. Lesson learned, I am never doing an exchange ever again. Also, we can't ruin _all_ the fun already, now can we?


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N:** I had a blast writing this, honestly. Or is it just me that think it's hilarious that it took 715 words before Eiji's brain actually started working as it should?

**Warnings: **Nude Eiji xDDDDD

The annoying sound of an unfamiliar alarm started to slowly but surely make its way into the redhead's comfortable sleep. At first it was just a distant sound that slowly but surely became more and more irritating as time went on, and he found himself lifting an exhausted arm in a blind search for the nightstand where he assumed the alarm was located, still too tired to even bother opening his eyes.

It was something that was just slightly irritating to begin with, but soon grew into an extreme annoyance and he growled slightly as he continued his search in vain. Just when he thought that there was nothing out there other than the thin air he was gripping with his way too tired hand, he heard a soft rustling beside him and the bed beneath him creaked underneath the movement as something warm moved past him, and suddenly the sound was gone all together.

It was obvious to himself that he wasn't thinking very clearly, however, he assumed that he -once again- had gotten too little sleep to actually be able to take on the new day, and he desperately fought the desire to just turn over and go back to sleep. Because surely there had to be _something_ he had to do today since the alarm had gone off at this ungodly hour. However, he couldn't -for the life of him- remember _what_.

"Eiji…"

There was a soft voice calling his name now, beckoning him to return from his deep slumber and he whimpered softly, voicing his disagreement as a gentle, warm hand started to place the strands of auburn hair that had come undone during his sleep behind his ear.

"Eiji…." there it was again, gentle and caring as something soft was pressed against his forehead and he felt his skin prickle the slightest and warmth spread through his body from the tiny spot. "You had an interview today, remember?"

Once his assignment was voiced he remembered and he grimaced slightly as his brain fought to get his body to function as it should. The interview was important, and very much so, but he found out that his body wanted nothing more than to sink deeper into the covers, and if it wanted to move at all it was towards that strange warm mass to his left. But he just knew that if he went that way he wouldn't be able to move his body at all, at least not for a very long time.

"You have to get up Eiji," that soft voice was whispering again, and he found himself nodding slowly and unwillingly starting to move in the opposite direction from that tempting warmth at his side. He had been right, even in his tired daze because one of his feet quickly found the end of the bed and he whined quietly as his bare skin came into contact with the cold air.

He didn't crawl back underneath the cover though, instead he bravely fought off his discomfort and found himself, mere minutes later, wobbling away through the room, trying to find his way through half-lidded eyes as a soft chuckle reached his ears.

"Right and the second door to the left," he didn't question the voice, he just simply followed the directions he had been offered until he was standing inside a tidy bathroom. Splashing some ice cold water on his face and recovering a little bit of his consciousness. Eiji stared tiredly at his own reflection, sighing softly as he did so. His hair was standing out in all possible and impossible directions and he groaned as he pulled a hand through the stiff locks, silently reminding himself to never sleep without washing out the hair gel ever again. What idiocy had lead him to do that in the first place anyway, he wondered quietly as he carefully poked at the black bags underneath his eyes.

Even though he never would admit it out loud, he was starting to understand the power of makeup, or something. He had a long time ago lost count on how many times the stuff had saved him from looking completely worn out at shootings and recordings. He blinked, puzzled over the fact that he wasn't wearing his usual blue and white nightgown, and it took his brain another three seconds before the night before came back to him.

_Hands reaching out to grasp at anything, a mouth searching for something, only to find a pair of soft, kiss swollen lips. Short breath brushing his neck, making his skin prickle and sending small shivers through his already trembling body. Nonsensical mumbling filling the air, even though he was rather certain he did catch his name every now and then._

_Nails digging into sweaty skin as they moved, rocking forward and back, his hips thrusting on their own as a small, burning ache quickly disappeared through immense pleasure. _

_And warmth. A burning heat he thought would burn the both of them alive. A heat that took away all the air and made his head spin from the lack of oxygen, and still he was trying to come closer, clinging desperately, never wanting to let go, no matter how much he burnt himself._

_The only thing he really saw through half lidded eyes was the color green. A soft, caring emerald tone that silently told him that everything would be okay, that he wouldn't be hurt. Promising that no matter what happened he would be there for him._

"Oishi…" he couldn't help it, couldn't hold back the urge to utter the others name even though he was fully aware that the other wouldn't be able to hear him. Maybe that was the point anyway, he thought as he almost tasted the name leaving his own lips. "Oishi…"

Still in a daze, but no longer from the lack of sleep, the redhead quietly walked into the shower and slowly turned on the water, letting the lukewarm droplets wash away the last trails of sleep and softly caressing his aching body. It didn't really hurt, just a small burning sensation that only served to remind him of the night, instead of making him whimper in pain.

'_So what now?'_ he mused as he worked the unfamiliar shampoo into the mess his hair currently was, if you could actually call the nest of red locks hair, that was. What did this make them? The night before he had been too caught up in anticipation and pleasure to stop and rethink, and he didn't know if he was glad that he hadn't, or not.

When he thought about it he didn't know anything about this side of Oishi at all, or whatever you wanted to call it. The other male had never hesitated with more than asking him if he was certain, never stopped and thought twice about what to do and when to do it. On the other hand Eiji had never hesitated to take what the other offered, but it was, honestly, an entirely different level.

If Eiji had been in Oishi's position he highly doubted he would know what to do. The goal he knew, but the road towards it was a science he had never bothered to research. He hadn't had any reason to do so either, before Oishi at least. It all just left him with an uneasy feeling in his stomach.

Where was he again? Oh, that's right: What did this make them? On this matter Eiji felt just as lost as he had felt that day he had lost himself in the large building of Seigaku, minutes before he had crashed into Oishi's life, literary that is.

Point was, when you added all the facts together that Eiji probably wasn't Oishi's first, and the redhead couldn't help but wonder how much he really meant to the other. Was he just one in the masses? Because Eiji didn't doubt that the male received a lot of suggestions from fans and coworkers. He had heard the squirming girls when he still worked in the CD store, had seen the glances that were thrown towards the other during the recordings.

Was it so strange for him to wonder if he really was special or just another, well, onenighter? No words or confessions had been shared the previous night as far as he remembered, right then it had been enough to hear his name roll of the others lips in a soft, panting voice filled with pleasure. But right now he couldn't help from wondering, because it was just a name after all, his, yes, but still another name among millions of others.

He didn't know. He didn't want to think about the other like that at all, because it seemed so out of character that it almost leaned towards being outright ridiculous, but how could he be sure? They had never discussed their love life with another except that one time Eiji had confessed that there was _someone_ he liked, one time, and not very graphic indeed.

They talked about shootings and works, or the show they made together. Sometimes they had told each other stories about their band mates, family, a TV show or something that had happen lately.

Never about love. It was like it had become an unwritten rule between the both of them. All he really knew was that Oishi's family was really traditional and therefore the older male had moved out at an early stage in his career, but other than that, nothing. He couldn't do much more than assume that the males parents would be against a gay relationship with their only son, however Eiji wasn't so sure that Oishi actually cared since they had already thrown him out once he started his career, but you could never be certain.

And right now, alone in a shower in an unfamiliar bathroom, Eiji felt more alone and confused than ever before in his entire life.

On hesitant, quiet feet the redhead found himself walking through the others house, a little more awake after the shower, and for the first time that day, actually paying attention to the decorations. Soft warm colors filled the house, and Eiji somehow saw it fitting as he laid his hand on the doorknob to what he believed was the bedroom, breath struck in his throat as he feared what he would find. Suddenly the towel that hung loosely on his hips made him feel so very naked.

He felt his heart sink to the floor as he found the room empty, except a pile of carefully folded clothes on the bed that he recognized as his own. He inwardly hit himself for acting like such a fool, he should have known, he really should.

People like Oishi never aimed for a long relationship no matter their personality, because their work never allowed it. He, if anyone, should have understood that. He had just started this line of work and he was already getting bombarded with things to do, he could only try and guess how it was for the older male.

Slowly walking to the bed he found himself reaching out to stroke the covers lightly, and just staring at the fabric, like it was able to tell him a story of its own. In one way it did, his memory supplying him with a million of images of a strong body pinning him to that very same bed, hands stroking, lips exploring…

He didn't know if he let out the soft whine that hid just behind his lips or not, but he gripped his clothes and pulled them on at a frightening speed. His hair was still wet from the shower, he still had bags underneath his eyes, but he would just leave all that to the make-up artists at the shooting. He threw a last glance at the lone bed, etching the memories with it before straightening his posture and walking out.

No matter what, he was thankful for what had happened, because it was more than he had ever been able to wish for before, he had, after all, still the memories to savor. He didn't regret a thing.

Especially not when he, mere seconds later found the other in the kitchen on his way out, cooking breakfast in only his boxer and a shirt and smiling that soft, gentle smile as soon as he saw him.

He felt himself stop in his tracks and just watch, blinking in confusion as the other motioned for him to come over, beckoning him, and he couldn't do anything else other than follow like he was in a trance, accepting the offered hand that linked their fingers together and melt against the other as those warm, caring lips was pressed against his forehead for the second time that morning.

**A/N: **I don't know, I had more planned out, but 20 chapters already and during my hiatus I kind of lost the red thread. For now on I think I am just gonna go back and focus on the 100 theme challenge. Maybe I'll do a sequel in the future, but I can't promise anything.

So for now thank you for sticking with me to this storys end, it started out with many and quick updates but by the end the lack of update was obvious and maybe that alone is a sign to move on and start with a new story. This story has been running for over a year now, jesus, times really does fly by, doesnt it.


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